


Of Intimate Touches and Business Deals

by Aprilmallick



Series: Intimacy au [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Arranged Marriage, Awesome James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Best Friend Rhodey, Cuddling & Snuggling, Eventual Smut, Genius Tony Stark, Hurt Tony, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, M/M, Not between Steve and Tony, Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Slow Build, Sort Of, Stark Industries, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Touch-Starved, does it count if they arrange it, obadiah is terrible as always, uncle obie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:20:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 27,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22162456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aprilmallick/pseuds/Aprilmallick
Summary: “I heard from a reputable source that Steven Rogers is looking to settle down,” Obie said, his eyes glittering mischievously. “Maybe you should think about that. You’d finally get away from me.” His tone was teasing but Tony was 85% sure he was actually being serious, which was quite unsettling.
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Thor, Clint Barton/Phil Coulson/Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Intimacy au [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1977406
Comments: 89
Kudos: 494
Collections: Great stories





	1. September

**Author's Note:**

> This has been in the work for far too long and I'll be honest- it still is. Just a few end scenes, though. This story is told through ordered snapshots, all in Steve's POV (besides for the prologue and epilogue). Each chapter is a month or two, as more happens in some months than others. /takes deep breath/ Hope you enjoy!  
> (Beta credits go to the wonderful @betheflame)

Prologue:

“I can really come?” Tony asked, disbelievingly. Obadiah never let him tag along on official Stark Industries business. Or well, anywhere really.

Obie grunted. “You’re 18 now. You should start learning the ropes.”

“Okay!” Tony couldn’t even hide the fact that he was thrilled, which was unusual. Obie generally liked to ruin his happiness, and so he usually hid it as best as he could. But Obie was the one who’d told him he was coming along on this trip. He’d even have his own room and everything! More freedom and privacy than he’d had in years.

Yet, Tony didn’t really let himself believe he’d actually  _ be _ going until he was in the back of the limo on the way to the hotel with Obadiah telling him how important this meeting would be, listing ways to secure an alliance with Roger’s company since they were threatening each other’s business.

“I heard from a reputable source that Steven Rogers is looking to settle down,” Obie said, his eyes glittering mischievously. “Maybe you should think about that. You’d finally get away from me.” His tone was teasing but Tony was 85% sure he was actually being serious, which was quite unsettling.

“Like I’d want to marry some old, probably fat and ugly geezer,” Tony said, feigning dismissiveness. Not that he had any idea what the guy was like, he was just going off of how Obie and most of his business partners looked.

\----------

September

Steve and Natasha arrived at the hotel to find Obadiah waiting for them in the lobby. There was a boy who couldn’t have been a day over 19 with him. 

“Mr. Stane,” Steve said, clearing his throat and sticking out his hand.

Stane took it, smiling. “Please, call me Obadiah.” He nodded at Natasha, whose lips curled in response. 

Steve withdrew his hand, the back of his neck prickling. The reports were right- he was charming and creepy. “Obadiah.” He looked inquisitely at the black haired teenager standing beside them. “And this is?”

“Tony Stark,” the guy said. He stuck his hand out as well, his handshake telling Steve that he didn’t have much experience doing so. Steve also could not help but notice that he was really cute. Look, he was only human.

Steve’s eyebrows shot up. “Howard Stark’s son?”

Tony nodded, a spark of defiancé flying into his eyes.

“Tony’s just turned 18,” Obadiah said. “Just three more years until the company becomes his- in name at least.”

“I see.” Steve smiled at Tony, much warmer than the plastic businessman one he’d given Stane. “So you’ll be sitting in on the discussion?”

“No,” Obadiah said abruptly. “Tony doesn’t need to be part of any of the formal discussions. They’re too sensitive for the time being.””

Tony’s forehead creased in confusion. “Then why’d you want me to come down at all?” Steve thought he made a valid point.

“It’s only polite,” Obadiah said, smiling through his teeth. “You can go now Tony. There’ll be other meetings.”

Steve was tempted to insist that he stay, on the grounds that Tony was an adult who could make his own decisions- but he bit his tongue. He didn’t need to get involved in what was clearly a strange, if perhaps a bit concerning relationship.

“It was nice to meet you, Mr. Rogers, Ms. Romanoff,” Tony said politely.

_ Mr. Rogers _ . Steve wasn’t that much older than him. 

Natasha smiled at him and he flinched. “Mr. Stark.”

“You can call me Steve,” Steve said, watching Tony retreat.

When he was gone, Obadiah said. “Steve. Shall we then?”

Steve raised an eyebrow sharply. “I never said  _ you _ could call me Steve.”

\----------

The meeting was not going quite so well for Steve.

“I have no intention of backing down,” Steve said firmly. He knew to stand his ground whenever possible. It was hard enough getting people to respect him as a business owner at 23, let alone in front of the head of a more powerful company that was threatening to swallow his up. The company had been his for barely two years, but he felt he was already basically ruining it. “If we do this merger, I will maintain control over my division. That’s non-negotiable.” Of course he knew it wasn’t really a merger - it was a takeover. But he was going to fight to keep it as his as possible.

“Well that’s going to make us enemies,” Obadiah said, his eyes glittering. “I won’t be able to explain that to the board. It would make out stocks dip as well, if the public caught wind. They think we’re acquiring you wholesale.” He gave a dry unsettling smile. “Unless … you’d be amenable some sort of personal alliance?”

Steve thought about it. This whole thing would go smoother with cooperation between himself and Obadiah, and if there was one thing the media loved, it was relationships. He’d do almost anything to keep Avenger’s weapons from being stamped out. Anything within his morals of course, he couldn’t compromise those. He might as well ask . . . “Well what about your son, Tony?”

“Tony isn’t my son,” Obadiah said immediately. “He’s more of a ward. And he’s not involved in the company.”

“But Howard left SI to him once you’re gone, didn’t he?” Seve asked, eyebrows raised. Why had the old man brought him then? 

The old man’s face twisted and Steve got the feeling there was more to the story. “That is true,” he admitted grudgingly. “What did you have in mind?”

Steve cleared his throat. “Obviously this would have to be okay with him,” he said. “But it’s common knowledge that I’ve been looking for a spouse. Assuming Tony is amenable, this would be a great opportunity for him. He’s not seeing anyone, is he?”

Natasha looked at him sharply.

She knew he was looking for a spouse because it would make the older men of the company respect him more. Maybe not the purest reason for a binding union but he wasn’t exactly holding out for true love. This would kill two birds with one stone, assuming it worked out. 

Obadiah smiled and the hairs on the back of Steve’s neck stood straight up. “He is not. You’re welcome to ask him to marry you. Hell, I encourage it.”

———

Steve asked for (and received) Tony’s room number. He knocked on the door and waited, shifting from foot to foot nervously. 

The door cracked open. “You’re not room service,” Tony observed.

“I’m not.” Steve swallowed. “May I come in? I’d like to discuss business with you.”

“Alright.” The door opened wider and Steve stepped through.

The room was nice- well,  _ room _ was the wrong word. There were three rooms actually. A nice sitting area which the door opened in to, a bathroom, and a bedroom. 

Tony was looking at him cautiously. “What kind of business? Because I have literally no idea what’s going on at Stark Industries and I’m not sure I want to.”

“Do you mind if we sit?” Steve asked.

“Sure.”

They sat, staring at each other in silence. Steve wasn’t entirely sure how to broach the topic. 

“So . . .” Tony prompted finally. 

“Right.” Steve cleared his throat- a nervous habit of his. “This has nothing to do with Stark Industries- well I suppose it sort of does. But not in a technical way.”

Tony remained silent, a bit of confusion creasing his face. Fair, as Steve wasn’t being his most eloquent at the moment. 

“Your . . . Mr. Stane might not have mentioned,” Steve went on, “but our companies interests don’t quite match up. Despite that, we’re in the process of discussing a merger.”

“Why?” 

“If I don’t take the deal then Stark Industries will become far more powerful than Avenger’s Weapons,” Steve admitted, his face souring. “But if Obadiah hadn’t offered me this deal then all my resources would have evaporated. He wants to get his hands on those.”

“So you’re doing this for survival but you don’t want to,” Tony summarised. “And if I know Obadiah—which I do—then you’re not talking about a merger, you’re talking about an acquisition.”

“Yes,” Steve admitted.

“Well that sucks,” Tony said. “But why are you here? I told you, I know nothing about anything. If you want me to try and appeal for you-”

“No no,” Steve said hurriedly. “Nothing like that.”

“Then what?” Tony asked flatly.

“Obadiah said the board won’t allow him to let me keep most of the control,” Steve said. “Not without a reason.”

“So you’re coming to me for a reason?”

“He said, well, he said a personal connection would suffice. And well, you’re his stepson-”

“Not legally,” Tony said automatically. He looked interested. “I think I see where you’re going with this though. You want a connection with me for Obadiah to present to the board so that you can keep control. Stop a hostile takeover.”

“Yes! Exactly,” Steve said, relieved. Damn, Tony was cute  _ and _ smart. He didn’t talk much like someone who was barely eighteen either. 

“Wait, but,” Tony said, his brow furrowing adorably, “Just let me get this straight. You want me to marry you, right?” 

_ Wow, he just jumped right into it, didn’t he _ .

“Only if you want to,” Steve said, shifting in his chair uncomfortably. 

Tony’s answer took him completely by surprise. “Um, getting out from under Obie’s roof? Yes please. And you’re really hot, dude. Like, I don’t even get how. But yeah sure, I’ll marry you.”

“It doesn’t have to be right away,” Steve said, half trying to convince Tony even though he’d already agreed. “We can you know, date? I’m sure the gossip mags will be all over Howard Stark’s son and Steven Rogers being seen out in public together.”

Tony’s beautiful whiskey eyes hardened the same way they had when they’d first met and he leaned forward in his seat. “If we’re going to do this,” Tony said. “Let’s get one thing straight. I am Tony Stark. Not Howard Stark’s son. I’m my own person.”

“Of course!” Steve said hurriedly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply otherwise.”

Tony relaxed back. “Okay good. As long as that’s settled.”

\----------

That night Steve looked at himself in the mirror, running a hand down his face. This was it. He was—for lack of a better word—shackling himself down for the foreseeable future. 

Boy, had Natasha given him an earful about that already. She’d suggested that maybe this was some big plot, that Tony was a spy and Steve shouldn’t trust that Obadiah had accepted his suggestion so readily. Steve had quickly shot her down. You couldn’t fabricate the relief and trepidation on Tony’s face when he’d talked about “getting out from Obie’s roof.” 

So he called Bucky and his ma to let them know. 

Those conversations had gone much the same. Both were defensive on his behalf. He managed to calm both down, and explain that none of this was on Tony, Tony was doing him a favor. They had to be nice to him. Bucky promised to tell everyone else.

He found Tony . . . intriguing. And attractive. Tony had said he was hot so he supposed that maybe he wouldn’t be sexless for the next however many years, even if they ended up hating each other. He doubted either of them would be able to risk seeing other people and he felt a pang that he’d be stopping Tony from pursuing a real relationship as well. 

But it would be fine. Tony was smart, plus he’d be able to escape Obadiah’s grasp. If all went well, so would Steve. And assuming the marriage didn’t work out, they’d be free of each other within a matter of time, morphed into a working relationship once Tony was of age. Steve would just deal with post-divorce attempts at forcing him out of the company as they came. If there even was a post-divorce period. 

This could backfire on either of them horribly. But also . . . it could work out beautifully. 

\----------

They met for lunch the following day to officially begin their ‘relationship.’

Tony seemed very nervous and Steve wasn’t entirely sure why.

“Does this count as a date?” Tony asked.

“I don’t see why not,” Steve said mildly. 

“Cool. So you should probably know that it’s my first one then.”

Steve sat forward, intrigued. “Really? How’s that?”

Tony looked at him like he was being stupid on purpose. “I’ve never been on one.”

“Oh. Well. It’s just.” Steve gestured around them. “This. This is a date.”

“Not as exciting and momentous as I thought it would be.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Steve said wryly. He leaned forward, putting his chin in his hands. “So tell me, how’d a cute fella like you never go on a date?” Steve felt the slightest bit like a creep, flirting with an eighteen year old but they were effectively engaged. He supposed it was okay. 

Tony’s cheeks darkened --  _ adorable _ , Steve thought -- and he glanced away. “I wasn’t really allowed to leave the house except for school and doctor appointments. Made it kind of hard to date.”

“Oh.” Steve swallowed back his shock. “No wonder you wanted to do this.” he smiled tentatively. “Well once you’re all moved into my place you can go anywhere you want anytime.”

“Good to know, thanks.” Tony said. “Like you could stop me.” He smiled, an actual smile that lit up his whole face and made his eyes extra sparkly. Steve made a note to try and get him to do that more often.

Steve snorted. “So when  _ do _ you want to move in?”

Tony’s eyes widened. “Oh, uh . . .“ he looked lost.

“It can be right away if you want,” Steve told him. “I don’t mind.”

“That would be optimal,” Tony admitted. “But Obie . . .”

“Obadiah cannot do anything,” Steve said firmly. “You’re legally an adult so you’re perfectly entitled to move out. And you don’t have to worry about money, I’m loaded.”

“For now,” Tony said fretfully. “But what if-”

“He gave me his blessings to ask you, Tony,” Steve said gently, yet firmly. “If he has an issue than he can go fuck himself with a cactus for all I care. You don’t have to live with him anymore.”

Steve wasn’t even sure why he felt so strongly after knowing the guy for just a day. But he did. 

Tony let out an unwilling nervous giggle.”Sorry- you just don’t seem like the type of guy to curse. You’re very . . . clean-cut looking.”

“I don’t usually curse,” Steve admitted. “My ma used to threaten to wash my mouth out with soap. Guess I took it to heart.”

“That’s adorable,” Tony said frankly. 

Steve scowled. His friends loved to tease him about it.

“Anyways,” Tony continued. “If you’re really sure that I can move in right away then I’d like that.”

Steve’s frown melted away. “Okay, great!”

“But . . . you’re really sure?”

“I’m sure,” Steve reaffirmed. “I can even tell Obadiah for you if you’d like.” 

Tony shook his head. “I can do it. Um.” He looked at Steve hesitantly. “But would you mind coming? Just in case?”

Steve didn’t even feel the need to ask why. He could figure it out for himself. “Of course.”

\----------

Tony was somehow holding himself up defiantly and cowering at the same time, waiting for Obadiah’s reaction. 

It was . . . surprising, to say the least. “Alright,” Stane said, stroking his chin. “Good for you. Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” Steve said evenly.

Tony nodded in agreement, swallowed, and squared his shoulders. “And I’m moving in with him,” Tony said. “Today.”

A strange look flitted across the old man’s face It looked almost like satisfaction, but that couldn’t be right . . . right?

“Okay. I’ll have Jarvis bring over your things. What’s the address?”

Steve rattled it off, glancing at Tony out of the corner of his eye. He looked entirely disbelieving about how mild and accepting Obadiah’s reaction seemed. 

Steve was in complete agreement. Any lingering doubts he may have had about Tony’s relationship with Obadiah flew from his mind. This was legit. Steve was familiar with the symptoms. Tony was an abuse survivor. 

\----------

Tony had a surprisingly small amount of clothes and personal items for the son of a billionaire.

Jarvis, who turned out to be a tall British man, only required three boxes to bring his young ex-master all his things. 

Steve hung around awkwardly with the box he’d brought in, not wanting to infringe on Tony’s personal space. 

“You can put it down inside,” Tony said finally, gesturing towards his bedroom door. 

So Steve did, noticing while he was there that the room lacked any semblance of personality. He’d never decorated this room. Maybe Tony would want to rectify that. 

Steve made to exit the room, but he heard voices right outside. He paused, not wanting to interrupt. 

“You’re absolutely sure?” _ British accent, so Jarvis. _ “Sir, if you don’t want to do this-”

“It’s my best option,” Tony’s voice interrupted. “I can’t bear living with Obie another second. Steve is. . . nice, at least.”

Steve smiled, but it quickly slid off his face. Why was he eavesdropping? He should not be doing this. 

“Your mother wants to come for a few days and help you get settled. But in the meantime, promise you’ll call me if anything happens.”

“I promise.”

Steve took that as his cue to quickly exit before someone started talking again. “I put it- oh,” he stopped short. Tony and Jarvis were hugging. “Sorry.”

Tony waved a hand towards him to convey it was fine, without breaking away. 

Steve randomly remembered reading somewhere to never pull away from a hug with your child first- you never knew just how long they needed to be held. He wondered if that was how Jarvis felt about Tony. 

\----------

“Your mom is coming to visit?” Steve asked after Jarvis had left. “That’s good!” Maybe it would help ease the acute awkwardness of the situation. Meeting his future mother-in-law like normal engaged people who, uh, knew each other.

Tony looked like he was trying to swallow a lemon. “Yeah. It’s going to be great.”

Steve’s smile faltered. “Is this bad?”

“It’s . . . “ Tony shook his head. “It’ll be fine.”

“I’m going to be pretty busy with work while she’s here so that’ll give you plenty of time to spend with her alone!” Steve said encouragingly, thinking that maybe he was the problem.

Tony blanched and Steve’s smile faded again. “Unless . . . I can take the days off, if you want.”

“No no, you work,” Tony said. “It’ll be fine.” 

\----------

Steve could tell it was  _ not _ fine. Sure, he didn’t know Tony that well yet, but he did know that most people didn’t stiffen and look like they were being tortured when their family members hugged them. 

Maria was perfectly polite to him, but he knew that meant nothing. 

He didn’t get a chance to bring it up until Maria had left. She spent every spare moment around Tony fussing over him, and didn’t seem to notice that her son appeared to be praying for death the entire time. She pestered him about the wedding date, but Steve had stepped in at that point since they hadn’t talked about it. 

“Sometime before the company merge,” was his answer, and Maria finally stopped asking. Although she did insist on planning it (Steve’s mother was probably going to force her way in, too), since it wasn’t to be too big of an affair. Since this whole thing was a farce, blowing it up would simply be too much pressure.

“That was possibly the longest three days I’ve ever had,” Tony sighed, putting down the hand he’d been waving with as soon as Maria’s car was out of sight.

“Want to talk about it?” Steve offered hopefully. More than being curious, he wanted to make sure his fiancé was okay. You could learn a lot about a person from how they interacted with their parents, and Steve had. None of it seemed to be very good. 

Tony shuddered, looking down. “She repulses me,” he said. 

Steve couldn’t help it- his jaw dropped. “But- she’s your mother,” he managed. He himself had an amazing loving relationship with his mom, even if they hadn’t quite gotten along during his pre-teen years. He couldn’t imagine ever finding his wonderful ma repulsive. 

“Yeah,” Tony said bitterly, derailing Steve’s train of thought. “I don’t like her. Maybe I love her, because like you said, she is my mother. But I really, really can’t stand her. I don’t know.”

“It’s okay,” Steve said, recovering from his shock. Of course, not everyone had good parents and to think otherwise was incredibly entitled. Just because Tony grew up with money and he hadn’t was no indication of quality of life. “Would you like a hug?”

“Sure.” Tony sounded reluctant, but Steve pushed past his own discomfort and swept his fiancé up into his arms. He let out a breath of relief when Tony melted into him. Maybe they’d manage this after all.

\----------

“Why don’t you like your mother?” Steve asked later, breaking the awkward silence of dinner, unable to help himself. 

“I’m not sure you’d understand,” Tony muttered.

“I want to,” Steve pressed. “That’s why I'm asking.”

“She just-” Tony paused, and took a deep breath. “You met her. She’s giggly and dumb, and she doesn’t pick up on social nuances.”

Steve  _ had _ noticed her tendency to laugh at literally everything, but he couldn’t see that as a reason to dislike a person. 

“She doesn’t get things,” Tony went on in a tone of frustration. “She never got why I hate Obie so much, since, ‘well it’s not like he’s hitting you or depriving you of anything you need.’” He took a shuddering breath. It seemed Tony had been waiting  _ years _ to say all this. “It’s like, Obie isn’t my dad. He’s never even had legal custody of me. He’s not even married to my mom. And yet she handed over the reins to him as soon as my dad died, and just stood by and let him do whatever he wanted to me.”

“She didn’t protect you,” Steve said quietly. 

“Exactly. And I’m her child. It just- it hurts, you know? She says she loves me every time we talk, and I never say it back, and she looks all hurt. I swear, I can hear it through the phone. But I look at her being all happy and giggly and not understanding how the world works, and I  _ hate _ her.”

Honestly, Steve couldn’t begin to imagine. But he sort of understood Tony a little bit better now, and that was the important thing. 

\----------

A few days after Maria’s visit, Steve wandered into the kitchen yawning. Tony was there, his hands wrapped around a mug of coffee. He was thrumming with nervous energy and Steve couldn’t help wondering if he ever relaxed. 

“Morning,” he said. “Sleep well?”

Tony gave a non-committal jerk of his head. “Yeah. You?”

“Alright.” Honestly, he’d been up quite late thinking about a certain twitchy teenager who was now living in his guestroom, but Tony didn’t need to know that.

“It’s just- I was just thinking. We don’t pass the creepiness test,” Tony blurted out nervously. 

Steve blinked at him. “I’m sorry?”

“You know,” Tony said impatiently. “Divide your age in half and add seven?”

“Well I’m 23 . . .” Steve said slowly. It was too early for him to do math.

“And if you divide that by two you get eleven and a half. Add seven and you get eighteen and a half.”

“I’m not really following,” Steve admitted. 

“I’m not eighteen and a half yet!” Tony said frustratedly. “So our relationship can be deemed ‘creepy’!”

“Uh.”

“Rhodey is gonna be pissed.”

“Who’s Rhodey?” Steve asked.

“My best friend,” Tony said. “He won’t like that you’re older.”

“I . . . can’t do much about that,” Steve said, feeling lost. “I mean you’re an adult and we’re doing this for business reasons, mostly.” Besides, it was a literal half a year. Once Tony turned 19 it would no longer be ‘creepy.’

Tony sort of flinched- Steve barely caught it. “Right of course.”

“I thought you didn’t have friends,” Steve said. He winced. “I mean-”

“It’s fine,” Tony interrupted. “I know what you meant. And yeah, I don’t have friends. He’s the only one.” He glanced up. “And you . . . sort of, I guess.”

Steve’s lips twitched. “Yeah, we’re friends.”

“Well anyways, Rhodey-bear and I have been friends since first grade. I was sort of the weird kid, he was the only one who didn’t care. Obie tried really hard, but he couldn’t quite get Rhodey’s family to leave me alone.” He perked up. “Holy shit, I can like . . . call him. I  _ should _ call him.”

“You don’t have a phone?” Steve asked.

“Nope. Wasn’t allowed.”

Steve swallowed. How had they gone this long without him knowing that Tony didn’t even have a  _ phone _ ? “You can use mine until we get you one.”

“Later,” Tony said. “He’s probably in class right now. MIT,” Tony sounded like a proud mama. 

Steve couldn’t help smiling. “So how were you weird?”

“Hm?”   
“In first grade. How were you weird?”

“Oh.” Tony shrugged. “Well Howard let me into his workshop pretty early. Most first graders don’t know how to assemble engines and prattle on about spark plugs, you know? But Rhodey never minded.”

“Well I can’t wait to meet him,” Steve murmured. 


	2. October

October

“What do you do when I’m not home?” Steve asked curiously one night, while they were watching some crappy teen soap opera on television. 

“Hm? Oh.” Tony tore his gaze away from the screen. He seemed far too invested in the plot. Steve made a mental note to introduce him to  _ good  _ shows. “I occupy myself. Go out and stuff.”

That was good, he was more independent than Steve could have hoped. “Are you looking for a job?”

Tony’s gaze slid away. “No.”

“Do you maybe want to take classes somewhere?”

“I’m already taking some online classes,” Tony admitted. “Part of what I do all day.”

“Oh. Good, good.” Steve was happy to hear that. Now how to make that translate into the real world?

There was a beat of silence. He got it. 

“You know, if you want to be more involved in the company I can make that work.”

Tony perked up. “Really?”

“Of course,” said Steve. “You said you were good with technology from a young age, right? Plus now you’re taking actual college courses. I’m sure someone in R&D could use your input, show you the ropes and everything.”

“That sounds really good,” Tony said. His forehead creased and he worried his bottom lip between his teeth. “But can I wait to start? I’m sort of still adjusting to like, freedom.”

“Of course!” Steve said. “There’s no hurry. Actually, it’d probably be best to wait until the companies merge. Make things cleaner, you know.”

Tony relaxed. “Okay.” There was a silence and the teenager’s attention drifted back to the screen.

Steve just looked at Tony for a bit, admiring how sharp his jawline looked in the dim lighting. “I’m sorry I’m not around so much,” he said finally. “I meant for us to get to know each other quicker than this.”

“It’s okay,” Tony said quickly. “I don’t want to be a bother. I get that you’re busy.”

“We’re going to be married,” Steve said, frowning. “You’re not a bother.”

“And we’ll have plenty of time to adjust after the wedding,” Tony said firmly. “I might be sheltered, but I’m not stupid. I get that you’re really busy trying to set up everything for the merger. It’s really fine.”

Steve went quiet, trying to swallow down his guilt anyways. He tried to distract himself by thinking about prior conversations he’d had with Tony. About how Tony hadn’t really been able to leave the house, or study on his level, or have friends, or-

“Wait!” Steve blurted out. “If you were so sheltered than how- . . . Do you know about sex?” His face immediately went bright read. _Shit, that was so random._ _And- and prying._

Tony rolled his eyes. “Of course I know about sex.”  _ Well, at least he was going with it.  _

“Oh, so you did get the talk and stuff,” Steve said, relieved. 

“Oh. well, no.” Tony admitted.

Steve felt like he was about to have an aneurysm. “Please don’t tell me you learnt everything from porn.”

“I don’t watch that much porn,” Tony said defensively. “I know that shit’s fake. I got my info from forums and doctor websites. Places like that.”

Okay that wasn’t  _ quite _ as horrible as Steve had been picturing. “And you just . . . stumbled across those?”

“Well in seventh grade,” Tony said. “This kid, Tiberius, real messed up and douchey, told me to Google foreplay. So I did. It kind of snowballed from there.”

“Well if there’s anything-”

“Steve.” Tony cut him off. “I know a lot about sex. Not to sound full of myself, but possibly more than you. I am knowledge certified; a sexpert if you will.”

Steve couldn’t help his internal wince. Sounded like something who actually knew nothing would say. “Okay, but the offer still stands.”

Tony looked like he was considering it, at least. “Well I suppose you do have me beat in the experience department. I mean . . . I assume.”

“You know what they say about assuming . . .” Steve began. “But yeah, I do. I do probably have you beat in the experience part.”

“Hm. Yeah. Never had sex,” Tony said thoughtfully.

“Would you like to?” Steve immediately wanted to smack himself. 

Tony went. Very still. “I’m sorry?”

“I mean-” Steve was at a loss for words. He couldn’t take it back, he didn’t want to take it back. But also, he’d probably just scared Tony very far away (mentally), which was possibly the douchiest thing he could’ve done, since the guy had nowhere else to go physically. 

“Are you . . . offering?” Tony’s eyes were wide and incredulous. 

Steve’s ears were burning. “Uh, no pressure? Sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed . . . you just, you mentioned that you thought I was hot so-”

“Sh.” Tony was blushing scarlet, and avoiding Steve’s eye.

Steve shut up. 

“You’d really want to . . . to have sex,” Tony seemed to have a bit of difficulty getting the words out, “with me?” 

“I’d want to do a lot of things with you,” Steve said honestly. 

“Such as?” Tony prompted.

“Well maybe propositioning a virgin for sex was a bit premature.” Steve was a big guy, he could admit when he’d put his foot in his mouth. Looked like Tony might want to work up bigger things. “Maybe we can do dinner?”

“Virginity is a social construct,” Tony said, seemingly automatically. “And yes. We can do dinner. We can do any meal you’d like. Now that I live with you and all.”

“Oh- no, Tony you can say no. Please don’t feel pressured just because of well,” Steve gestured hopelessly, “the situation.”

Tony finally looked up, only to look back down, his blush softening. “I swear, I don’t feel pressured. I’d like to do things with you too . . . um. Hypothetically, that is.”

Steve couldn’t help wondering exactly what that meant, but Tony had agreed to dinner and he didn't want to jinx it.

They bid each other some rather awkward “goodnight!”s and Steve went to his bedroom to call his ma for advice. 

\----------

Dinner went quite well, (despite the paparazzi stalking them to the restaurant) all the way to the end when Steve dropped Tony off at his bedroom door. Look, he was a gentleman, okay? It was only slightly comical that Tony happened to be living down the hall.

“Well this was . . . nice,” Tony said, echoing Steve’s thoughts. “Much more romantic than the cafe, anyways.”

“I’m glad you had a good time,” Steve gave Tony a warm smile. 

Tony put his hand on the doorknob, stopped, and turned. “In movies this would be the part where we kiss.” 

_ Was he trying to hint- _ “Can I kiss you?” Steve asked gently.

Tony chewed his lip nervously. “Uh . . .”

“Or not,” Steve said hastily. “We don’t have to.” Or perhaps it was simply an observation.

“Okay.” 

Steve couldn’t figure out if he had the green light or not. Better to assume not. “That’s alright. How about a hug?”

Surprisingly, Tony’s face flushed.  _ Well damn. If he couldn’t handle the mention of a hug then kissing was likely a long way off.  _

“A hug sounds great.” The words were surprisingly earnest. 

So Steve left the blushing Tony with a tight, lingering hug, and a brush of his lips across Tony’s knuckles before bidding him goodnight. 

He’d followed his ma’s advice to a T; no pressuring, only patience. Steve was tempted to fly her out, but she’d insisted they have some space in the first few months. “And that goes for your friends too, don’t let them scare him off!” 

\-----------

Steve and Tony’s faces were plastered all over the news the next day. Natasha told him it was good PR. “Both our and SI’s stocks have risen,” she said. “The public approves.” 

It should have made Steve happy. Maybe it would have if he and Tony were only faking the relationship. 

Honestly though? Now he was just irritated that the public cared so much about his and Tony’s personal lives. As long as they weren’t doing illegal things or kicking puppies, what did it matter? This really shouldn’t have any bearing on the public’s view of his soon-to-be-swallowed-up company. 

He hated his privacy being invaded, and he hated that Tony, who’d never really had any privacy at all, was being splashed around for everyone to see.

\----------

They were taking things at a snail’s pace. Nothing physical at all. It wasn’t until they’d been on two more dates that the subject came up. “This whole romancing thing is nice,” Tony said. “But I’ll be honest, I feel like a third date with no kissing is pushing it.” 

Steve glanced at him sideways. “You . . . want me to kiss you?” Their last date had been cut short by a work phone call, so Steve hadn’t even had a chance to try.

Tony sort of shrugged noncommittally. 

“Okay. Tony. Can I kiss you?”

Tony glared at him. “For Christ’s sake Rogers, stop asking and just do it!”

“Okay,” Steve said again. He swallowed hard. There was a small fear in the back of his mind that Tony was going to kick him in the nuts (as he’d sworn to do if Steve did something he didn’t like). Navigating Tony’s boundaries was terrifying. He didn’t want to scare him off. 

Also, he knew this was going to be Tony’s first real kiss. He wanted to make it special.

“Here.” Steve put one hand gently on Tony’s cheek, caressing, cheering internally when he didn’t flinch away. He actually looked quite calm. Steve leaned in slowly . . . and kissed him.

It lasted about two seconds before Tony jerked back. “Ew,” he said.

“No?” Steve asked.

“Actually. . .” Tony looked like he was considering. “Okay fine, it wasn’t actually bad. Kinda slimy. That was just a reflex.”

“So . . .” Steve prompted.

“Not sure.” Tony smiled, a little shyly, a little mischievously. “I think we need to try again. I need a bigger frame of reference.”

Right, because he had none. Steve leaned back down and attempted to kiss Tony again. This time it lasted a bit longer. 

“I have no idea what I’m doing,” Tony admitted, drawing back again. “This kinda just feels weird.”

“Would you be opposed to practicing?” Steve asked.

Tony ran a hand absently over his no doubt tingling lips. “Well . . . it is a good kind of weird.”

Steve wasn’t quite sure how to feel about Tony sort of . . . analyzing his kisses rather than just enjoying them. “Maybe I can help?”

Tony raised an eyebrow.

“Close your eyes,” Steve said.

Tony squinted at him, and then listened.

Steve tilted Tony’s chin up with one hand, his thumb rubbing against his right cheek, his other hand cupping the left. Tony startled a little when he felt the touch, but his eyelids only flickered and didn’t open.

Steve hovered his mouth over Tony’s, letting him feel the heat of his breath so he knew it was coming.

Tony’s lips parted ever so slightly in anticipation, and Steve went for it. 

This time Tony didn’t break the kiss. 

\----------

“I have a lot of issues,” Tony said, after their makeout session. “Not gonna lie, I kinda feel like a child who just did some inappropriate ‘adult’ stuff.” 

“I think that’s pretty normal,” Steve said, even though Tony’s word choice made the back of his neck prickle unpleasantly. “Just because you can legally vote now doesn’t mean you’ve automatically figured out life.”

“I’d have life all figured out if I could shake the anxious kid feeling.”

Anxiety?

“Would you- are you seeing someone for that?” Steve asked helplessly, already knowing the answer. 

Sure enough, Tony made a face. “No. Don’t get me wrong,” he added, probably seeing the way Steve’s face twisted, “I need to. But I went to a therapist for a year, and it did nothing. Obi told me it was a waste of time and money and wouldn’t let me go anymore no matter how many times I told him that sometimes you have to search to find the right one. And before that there were school-mandated therapy sessions because of my dad.”

“Your dad?” Steve asked, completely lost. He always was, when Tony info-dumped a bunch of his childhood onto him. 

“He died when I was in third grade,” Tony said impatiently. 

“Oh. Oh!” Steve’s eyes widened. He’d known Howard was dead, of course. But somehow he hadn’t quite connected that with Tony losing his father. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Jarringly, Tony smiled. “It’s not like it’s your fault.”

“No I know, but-”

“You don’t know what else to say,” Tony finished for him. “It’s fine. I’m not cut up about it or anything, I swear. I won’t start bawling if you mention him. Anyways, those sessions didn’t do anything either.”

“Was he a good father at least?” Steve asked hopefully. Please,  _ please _ let Tony have had someone who loved him and treated him right, however fleetingly.

Tony shrugged noncommittally. “Good father? Yeah, I guess. Since he was the one who did the actual parenting. But he treated my mom like shit, so that’s all I really need to know about him.”

“But- he . . . hugged you and stuff?” Steve persisted. “He treated you okay?”

“Sure, he was affectionate.” Tony gave another shrug. “He also used to spank me though. Nothing child abuse worthy, but it hurt.”

Steve’s ma had taken him over her knee until he turned five. Then she’d started with guilt punishments instead, since he was old enough to know better by then. But Howard hadn’t died until Tony was nine . . . 

“Well you’re not with Obadiah anymore,” Steve said. “And we don’t have to worry about the cost. You can even see someone out of network if you’d like. So if you want me to help you find someone . . . “

Tony smiled, and with a jolt, Steve realized that Tony was on the edge of tears. “Thanks, Steve.”

\----------

There was a knock at Steve’s door and it creaked open. “Steve?” 

Steve stifled a curse under his breath, put down his pen and turned his attention to Tony. “Yeah?”

“Oh.” Tony took in the mountains of paperwork in front of Steve. “Sorry, you’re busy. Uh, I was wondering if I could use your phone. I just found Rhodey’s number in my things.”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “What happened to yours?”

“It’s uh. It’s been dismantled. I’ve been trying to improve it.”

Okay, sure. Steve rubbed at his temples, where he could feel a stress headache coming along. “Yeah. Here.” Steve tossed Tony his Nokia. It was caught with a look of complete incredulity, but Tony tactfully backed out of the room without saying anything. 

He called his friend right outside Steve's door, and Steve wasn't trying to eavesdrop, he swore, but . . . Tony's friend was actually just that loud. 

“ _ You’re doing WHAT _ ?”

Steve winced. He’d hate to be on the receiving end of that.

_ “Platypus listen, I swear I know what I’m doing.” _ Tony’s voice was slightly raised in panic, making it clear to his friend (and Steve) that he had no idea what he was doing.

There was some more yelling, this time too garbled for Steve to understand. He stared down at the paper in front of him. 

_ “No, don’t do that- I don’t know if-” _

Now Steve could barely hear any of it. A few seconds later there was a tap at the door. 

“Come on in, Tony.”

The door cracked open and Tony shuffled through it looking a bit sheepish. He held out the phone. “Uh he wants to . . . talk to you?”

Steve took the phone. “Hello?”

“Listen up.” Tony’s friend did not sound anything like Steve had expected a friend of Tony’s to sound. This guy sounded like . . . a man. “I’m coming down there. You got the room?”

“I do.” Steve said, completely nonplussed. “We’ll be happy to have you.” He figured his ma’s instructions of space didn’t apply to Tony’s friend- this could only help.

“Glad to hear. This weekend okay? It’s Halloween.”

“What day is it?”

“Saturday. Right now it’s Tuesday,” Tony whispered.

“Yeah, this weekend is fine,” Steve said. “Should I clear my schedule?” He’d honestly lost track of the days. Maybe if he’d known Halloween was this weekend he’d have a clear schedule already.

“At least one day of it. Doesn’t have to be Saturday, I’m taking Tony out.”

“You are?” Tony asked under his breath. 

Both Steve and Rhodey ignored him.

“Done.” He could move that Sunday meeting to later, it would be fine. “We’ll be expecting you, uh . . .”

“Jim,” Tony’s friend said. “Glad we talked this out.”

“Would you like to speak with Tony some more?” Steve asked.

“Yeah.” Pause. “Thanks.”

Steve handed the phone back to Tony and made a little hand wavy motion. He seriously needed to make a dent in some of those papers. 

\----------

Tony was occupied with his friend for the better part of two hours. 

He came creeping back in looking quite wary. “Any progress?”

Steve nodded towards the larger pile on his desk. “Finished all that.”

“Oh, good.” Tony shuffled a bit closer and gave Steve his phone back. “So uh. You’re really okay with Rhodey coming?”

“Well he’s your friend,” Steve said. “And seeing him will make you happy, right?”

“Yeah.” Tony looked down. “Thank you so much.”

“It’s really my pleasure,” Steve said. “We have the room and I want you to be happy.”

Tony went a little bit red and squirmed. Shit, Steve had made him uncomfortable. 

“If you want to eat dinner together, I can take a break now,” Steve said, to break the awkward silence.

Tony visibly brightened. “Really?”

Steve stood up, straightening the piles of papers. “Yeah, of course. Are you okay with me cooking?”

“You can cook?” Tony asked in surprise.

“Yeah, my ma taught me a few recipes.”

“Mine too,” Tony smiled shyly. 

“Maybe we can prepare a meal together some time,” Steve offered, walking towards the door, Tony in tow.

“It’s a date.” And it really would be.

Over dinner they talked about a multitude of things including but not limited to, Steve’s Nokia, “Steve, I might not have had a lot of access to technology but even I know only dinosaurs still have fossils like those.” 

“But it makes it throwable! Anyways, what exactly have you been doing to your phone?”

“Reworking the wiring. You know, I always heard that Apple made their products to break but I didn’t realize it was  _ true _ .”

About Jim’s upcoming visit, Steve asked, “Do you want him to stay in your room or should I set one up?” 

“Give him his own, he’ll probably want privacy after living in a dorm all year.”

“Do you know what you’ll be doing on Halloween?”

Tony shrugged. “He wouldn’t tell me. Don’t worry, it’s sure to be legal.”

“It’s just well, he sounds a lot older than 18,” Steve said casually. Jim wouldn’t be like . . . taking Tony out to do underage drinking, would he?

Tony looked at him with surprise. “That’s because he is older than 18.”

“I thought you said-”

“Oh, I forgot to say that he wasn’t in the same grade as me, didn’t I?”

“Yep.”

Tony grinned. “Yeah, he’s 21. He was my knight in shining armor on the playground.”

Steve could feel his eyes going soft at the thought, worries about Halloween flying out of his mind for the time being. “I had one of those.”

Tony leaned forward, intrigued. “You did?  _ You _ ?”

“I wasn’t always this big.” Steve gave a self-deprecating shrug. “I was actually tiny as a kid. Smaller than you.”

“I take offense to that.”

Steve laughed and began telling Tony all about Bucky, and how he’d saved scrappy little Steve from getting his ass kicked all over the playground. 

Finally, with a lull in the conversation, Steve gave a regretful sigh and gathered up their empty plates. “I need to get back to work.”

“I can clear the table.” Tony stood up and took the plates. “Then I’ll probably go to sleep.”

“Okay. Thank you, sweetheart.” The endearment just slipped out. Tony nearly dropped the dishes and went bright red. Steve mentally facepalmed. Okay, that wasn’t okay. Noted.

“No problem,” Tony mumbled. “‘Night, Steve.”

\----------

Rhodey arrived Thursday evening. Steve had known this was going to happen, but it was a complete surprise for Tony. 

“Platypus!” Tony all but bowled Jim over as he flung himself at his friend. “I thought you weren’t coming until tomorrow night!”

“No classes on Friday,” Jim said smugly. He squeezed Tony so tightly that for a moment, Steve was afraid his fiancé would be crushed. 

They disengaged several minutes later, and Rhodey stuck his hand out to Steve. “Jim Rhodes. Tony’s best friend.”

“Steve Rogers.” Steve winced as the bones in his right hand were crushed. “Tony and I are still establishing that.”

“Don’t scare him,” Tony scolded. “I told you, he’s nice.”

Jim looked for all the world like he didn't think ‘nice’ cut it. He wasn’t wrong. 

“Well we’re happy you’re here,” Steve said. “I look forward to getting to know you.”

Jim nodded. “Me too.”

“Well maybe we can start on that tonight,” Steve said. It was pure luck that he’d managed to finish the bulk of his paperwork already. “Takeout and a movie? Tony can show you where you’re staying so you can put your things down.”

“Sounds fine.” And then Tony was tugging his friend away chattering excitedly about nothing and everything. Steve couldn’t quite catch it all and wasn’t sure he wanted to. It was so good to see Tony excited about something. 

\----------

The movie they decided on was the first (fourth) Star Wars, which Jim suggested and Tony agreed to. They’d all seen it, so it gave them room to talk.

A few minutes in, the doorbell rang with their Chinese food, and Steve got up to get it. He came back to Tony (who’d been sitting in the middle of them on the big couch) huddled into Jim, his arms around his friend's torso and his head resting on his chest. He couldn’t quite stop a twinge of jealousy from erupting in the pit of his stomach. With him, Tony was kinda weird about physical contact. They’d never managed to cuddle like  _ that _ . The jealousy only intensified when Jim ran his fingers through Tony’s hair and Tony leaned into the touch enthusiastically. 

He sat back down without comment though, and put the food down in front of them. Jim reached out and snagged a carton of lo mein for him and Tony to share. 

At some point during the movie Steve made the mistake of making an offhand comment about the shitty special effects. Jim and Tony jumped on him, saying that for the time the movie was made, actually they were really good, and how dare he criticise one of the best movies ever made, etc etc. 

He decided not to mention that he actually liked the prequels better. 

By the time the credits were rolling, Tony had fallen asleep on his friend, and Steve was trying hard not to stare. He’d never seen his fiancé sleeping before and it was downright adorable. 

“I’ll get him to bed,” Jim said. “Won’t be good for him to sleep on the couch.”

Steve’s eyes snapped upwards. “Yeah, of course . . . do you want help?”

“I’ve got him,” Jim said. “You’ll get your chance when I’m gone, don’t worry.”

Steve felt more than just a twinge as he watched them go, wondering if Tony really would ever give Steve the chance to carry him to bed.

\-----------

It was a productive and enlightening experience, having Jim there. 

Over the weekend, as Tony began to warm and loosen up, more comfortable with his friend there, Steve quickly found out that he loved to argue. Tony was the most contrary person Steve had ever met, and that was saying something, considering his own stubbornness.

And yet, Tony rarely jumped into a conversation without a legitimate opinion. He seemed to start fights for no reason quite often, but barely ever without having critical points to back up his opinion. The man was quite a skilled debater. (Debatist? Was there even a word for it?)

He brought it up with Rhodes, worried that the day full of arguments meant Tony was trying to pull away. 

Jim just rolled his eyes. “Steve. Tony’s been censored all his life. Every opinion he ever had was shut down by Obie, so he’s had quite a few years to build them up and stew in them. If he’s arguing with you, it just means he’s comfortable. He’s not scared you’re going to shut him down. Which,” Jim levelled him with a severe glare, “you are  _ not _ going to do. Right?”

“Of course not!” Steve practically yelped.”I would never.”

“Good.” Jim studied him, and then gave a satisfied nod. “You can call me Rhodey.”

The only bit of issue that made an appearance was when Steve nearly went head to head with Rhodey over his Halloween plans with Tony.

“What are you, his parent?” Rhodey scoffed. “You gonna tell me you didn’t do dumb things when you were 18? Why do you care if we go drinking? I’ll be there.”

Steve had to bite back his protests that he didn’t know Jim at all, realizing that he was acting scarily like a baby boomer for a 23-year-old. And anyways, Tony knew Jim and trusted him. Tony was even an adult.

They’d be fine.

Steve ended up ducking out to drop by Clint’s halloween party and worry surrounded by friends even though they kept insisting he had nothing to worry about. 

Sure enough, when he got home Tony and Rhodey were curled up on the couch together giggling, surrounded by candy, both 100% sober. 


	3. November

November

On Rhodey’s last night, he cornered Steve in the kitchen, where he was busy getting some late-night coffee to keep him going. 

“Listen to me,” Rhodey said, his voice low, “Tony would kill me if he knew I was telling you any of this, but he really likes you and I just want to make sure you treat him right.”

Steve stared at him. “Tony likes me?” It seemed stupid. They were well, dating. But Steve still hadn’t been sure.

“Yes, obviously.” Rhodey rolled his eyes. “That’s not what’s important here though. I’m trying to tell you how to be good to him.”

“Okay.” Steve straightened his back and turned his listening ears on. “Go on.”

“Tony likes being cuddled. He won’t come to you for physical affection, so you have to give it to him. He wants to be treated gently.” Jim paused for a second, thinking. “Call him pet names. He likes those. Baby, honey, sweetheart, go wild. Sappiest names you can think of. If he squirms and blushes then you’re on the right track.”

Steve nodded, feeling slightly overwhelmed. Pet names. He could do pet names. But he’d thought the squirming meant that Tony was uncomfortable, not liking it. Damn, he’d fucked that one up.

“He likes it when you say sweet things to him. Tell him . . . I don’t know, that you want to make him feel safe. You think he’s cute when he’s flustered. Things like that.”

“I can do all that,” Steve said. “I’d  _ love _ to do all that.”

“Good. That’s good. And the most important thing . . . this one is going to sound a little weird but keep an open mind, okay?”

“Okay . . . “

“Sometimes he needs to be forced into doing things,” Rhodey said, his voice low. “Tony and I- we talk about everything. And I do mean everything. So when I say he’s told me he wishes you’d just stop asking and do things, I mean he’s told me this more than once.”

“How- how forced?” Steve’s mouth was suddenly bone dry. He wasn’t so comfortable with the direction this was going.

“Sweetly forced,” Jim corrected himself. “Don’t go getting all aggressive, that will scare him. Just do things gently. If he tells you to stop, you stop. But you’ve got to quit asking if you can touch him every single time, he’s getting annoyed.”

“He- he is?”

Rhodey looked at him like he was being a dumbass. Maybe he was. “The last time you asked if you could put your arm around him he literally punched you.”

Steve blushed. “I thought he just didn’t want me to put my arm around him!”

“Exactly.” Rhodey let out a sigh, like _ how would these dumb white boys survive without me _ . Steve was familiar with it. Sam sighed the same way all the time. “You’ll be on your own after tomorrow. Next time I visit I want to see Tony all over you.”

\----------

"Would you like it if I pet your hair more often, sweetheart?" Steve asked gently, testing the waters.

Tony blanched. "Wh-why would you- do you want to?"

"I just noticed you seemed to really like it from Jim," Steve said mildly, determinedly keeping the jealousy out of his voice. Rhodey had said to be a bit more forceful, but that didn’t mean Steve was going to forgo asking consent. 

"Oh." Tony bit his lip. "Yeah. I'd. . . I'd like that."

"You can always ask for things like that," Steve said, a little bit sadly. "I want you to be comfortable here with me. I promise as long as it's in my power, I won't say no."

"It's not . . . it's not about comfort," Tony said, clearing his throat nervously. "And it's not that I'm afraid you'll say no."

"Why can't you ask then?" Steve frowned.

"Because if I ask for things that I want . . . " Tony's voice trailed off to a whisper, ". . . Then you'll know."

"Know what?"

"What I want."

\----------

“I wanna hear more about your friends,” Tony said, on date number five, two days after Rhodey had left. This one was simple, some Netflix with an unfortunate lack of chill. “You’ve met mine. How come I haven’t met yours?”

“I thought I mention them all the time,” Steve said. Honestly, he’d been very very busy the past few weeks, only enough time to meet them for lunch breaks here and there. He also hadn’t wanted to overwhelm Tony with their presences just yet, still following his mother’s advice, which seemed to be working. 

“Not really.”

“Really?” Steve found that surprising. There was so much to say. What had they been talking about until now? Right, Tony’s messed up childhood, family, and business stuff. 

“So will you tell me about them?”

As if Steve could say no to those big pleading eyes. “Of course.”

“Awesome.” Tony smiled contentedly and sunk back into the couch cushion. “Start with Bucky. You’ve pretty much only told me how you guys met.”

“Okay well he lives nearby,” Steve said. “He works for a bakery. He’s dating another friend of mine, Sam.” Steve was pretty sure Tony was familiar with most of their names by now.

“How’d they meet?”

“I introduced them. Sam was my gym buddy.”

“You set them up?”

“God, no.” Steve laughed. “I never even considered them for each other. They actually fought a lot back when they first met.” He tilted his head consideringly. “They still do. It’s a bit of an explosive relationship but they definitely love each other.”

“What’s Sam like?” Tony asked, more quietly, “do you think he’ll like me?”

“They’ll all like you,” Steve said firmly. “There’s nothing about you not to like.”

“Oh.” Tony went red and looked towards the screen, pretending for a moment to watch the rom-com Steve had put on. “Thanks for saying that.”

Steve decided to press on. “Sam is sarcastic and blunt,” he said. “Loyal to a fault- not that I’m complaining. He has a BA in psychology and he’s in middle of going for his master’s at NYU.” 

“Well I’m sure he’ll have a field day psychoanalyzing me,” Tony muttered. 

Steve leaned forward. “Oh no, he’s not like that. But he is a good person to talk to.”

Tony didn’t look particularly convinced. “If you say so. Anyone else?”

“Well there’s Natasha,” Steve said thoughtfully. “Wait. You have met her. She’s my assistant.”

Tony’s jaw dropped. “Scary murder redhead?”

“Oh, she’ll love that.”

“Hold up.” Tony raised his hand. “You’re friends with your assistant?”

“Well she  _ is _ my  _ personal _ assistant,” Steve said mildly. “Why shouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know.” Tony looked down tracing one foot along the edge of the carpet. “Just stuff Obadiah would say I guess. About not fraternizing with anyone below your level.”

There was a short harsh laugh and it took Steve a moment to realize it had come from him. “Well better not tell Natasha that.”

“Okay.” Tony looked hesitant. “Sorry, I’m still working out what general knowledge things Obie told me were true and what weren't.”

Steve could feel his heart breaking a little at that admission. “Well to be fair, I don’t know what’s typical of other companies,” he said. “But no one in their right mind would call Natasha below my level.”

“Fair enough,” Tony raised an eyebrow. “So I’m assuming she’s single because everyone is scared of her.”

Steve laughed. “Quite the opposite.”

“Really? How’s that? Lots of boyfriends?” Tony’s voice dripped with skepticism. 

“Just two.” Steve smiled innocently. 

Tony’s jaw dropped. “Wait. Really? There are two guys not intimidated by that?”

“Natasha’s not that scary once you get to know her,” Steve assured him. 

“But she’s capable of murder. Tell me I’m wrong.”

Tellingly, Steve said nothing. 

Tony shook his head in disbelief. “Okay. Well tell me about these guys. Do they know about each other?”

Steve nearly choked on his laughter. “Well I’d sure hope so. Since they’re in a relationship too.” 

Tony’s reactions were all so innocent and hilarious. His eyes nearly bugged right out of his skull. “I didn’t know you could do that!”

“It’s a form of polyamory called a throuple, or a triad,” Steve said, trying not to laugh—or worse—coo. “Just means three people dating each other instead of two.”

“Throuple,” Tony repeated. “I like that.”

“It’s cute,” Steve agreed. “Anyways, so her boyfriends are Clint and Phil. Clint’s a human disaster.” 

“The party guy?” Tony asked.

Steve laughed. “Yep. He used to be in the circus, now he teaches classes for kids and teens. Archery and gymnastics and stuff like that.”

Tony’s eyes lit up. “Could he teach me?”

“Almost definitely.”

The smile on Tony’s face warmed Steve right up. “And the other one? Bill?”

“Phil,” Steve corrected. “He works a desk job for some company. He’s probably told me for what a million times but I can never remember.”

“One of those jobs.” Tony nodded wisely. 

“Yeah . . .” Steve rubbed at the back of his neck. “I don’t know him quite as well. He’s older than us. Mid 30s.”

“Well that is quite the motley crew. Wasn’t there a really smart guy somewhere?” 

“Yes. But wait!” Steve said lightly. “There’s more!”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Is this your, I don’t know, group? Or are you just listing all your individual friends?”

“Well we’re all friends with each other, if that’s what you mean,” Steve said, frowning slightly. “Movie nights and all that. Usually here, since I have the biggest place.”

“And yet I haven’t met any of them besides Scary Murder Redhead,” Tony mused. “Alright, hit me with the rest of em.”

“Just two more,” Steve assured him. “Thor’s a bodyguard for hire. He’s originally from Sweden, also sort of a partier. Bruce is his boyfriend. He’s in school going for his second PhD in something sciency and confusing. He’s the really smart guy. Kinda like you. Quiet and a genius.”

Tony blushed and hastened to deny it. “I wouldn’t exactly say I’m a genius.”

“If you’d been allowed to learn at your level then you’d be right where Bruce is,” Steve said firmly. 

“Whatever you say,” Tony mumbled reluctantly. “So how come they’re all gay?”

“Actually just Bruce and Sam are gay. Thor doesn’t like labels. Natasha is straight. Bucky is pan. Phil, Clint, and I are bi.”

Tony raised an eyebrow.

Steve sighed. “I don’t know, it sort of just ended up like that. Queer attracts queer?”

“Fair enough. And I haven’t met any of them because . . . ?”

“I . . . didn’t want them to scare you off?” Steve’s ears started burning.

Tony just looked amused. “That’s mighty sensitive of you considering I have nowhere to be scared off to.”

“Yeah, that-” Steve swallowed. “That was sort of the point.”

“Aw.” Tony beamed and Steve just couldn’t resist the urge to pull Tony against him. He did a mental fist pump when Tony cuddled more comfortably into him. “Okay, but I think it’s been long enough. I want to meet them.”

Again, as if Steve could say no. 

\----------

Introducing Tony to his friends was a firestorm. Steve must have checked dozens of times that it was okay to have them all over at once, and he still felt bad despite getting dozens of “It’s fine, Steve!”s. 

He did make sure their arrivals were staggered though. The neighbors would complain if there was that much noise on his front stoop. 

First came Bucky and Sam. Steve figured they’d be the least overwhelming, although they did just bust right in without knocking. 

Tony jumped a little, but Steve just sighed, already long used to it. 

“Stevie!” Bucky hugged him. “I cannot fucking believe you got engaged and took this long to introduce me to the fiancé.”

“Yeah man, It’s been like two or three months! What gives?” Sam scowled playfully. He gave Steve a hug too, once Bucky had stepped back. 

“Yeah yeah yeah, well lemme introduce you.” Steve gestured at Tony. “This is Tony.”

“Well alright!!” Bucky said, turning towards Tony. “Welcome to the family! We’re brothers now, so I’m gonna hug you. Do you do hugs?”

“I- yes?” Tony tilted his head, looking slightly afraid. 

Bucky wrapped Tony up in a bear hug and then set him back down. “I’m Bucky.”

“I’m Sam.” Sam stepped forward smoothly. “Unlike this dumbass, I’ll respect your personal space, since it’s our first time meeting and everything.” He stuck out his hand and Tony shook it uncertainly. 

“It’s- it’s nice to meet you,” Tony said. 

Bucky beamed. “I like him, Stevie! I’m gonna keep him,” he declared. Steve was quite glad he’d reached that conclusion within less than a minute. It was the same reaction Steve had had himself. 

“Who else is coming?” Sam interrupted. He sat down on the loveseat, kicking his shoes off. “And are they bringing food?”

“We just ate!” Bucky looked truly exasperated. 

“Says the guy who once woke up every two hours to down basically an entire goddamn meal.”

“I was keeping my weight up!”

Tony shrank back from their bickering. Steve quickly went to his side. “They’re always like this,” he said in an undertone. “It’s okay, they rarely ever mean it.”

Sure enough, by the time the doorbell rang signaling Natasha, Clint, and Phil’s arrival, Sam and Bucky were making out fervently on the loveseat. Poor Tony didn’t seem to know where to look. Maybe Steve thought it was sort of adorable. Oh well. 

The trouble trio might have been a better first choice, Steve thought mournfully, seeing how well Tony took to them. 

Tony still seemed terrified of Natasha but he’d responded to her warm smile with a hesitant one of his own. She seemed to have dispensed of her doubts about Tony, so she wasn’t anymore intimidating than usual. Phil didn’t say much, as was typical, but he still had a calming presence and a genuine personality. 

As for Clint, well, it was impossible to feel awkward around him, he was just on the right side of oblivious, but somehow always seemed to know how to handle situations. Actually, all three of them did. It was slightly terrifying. 

Clint also hugged Tony, and then plopped down right next to him on the couch, his feet up, (“Shoes  _ off _ Clint,” said an exasperated Steve), downing a slice of pizza from the box he’d came bearing. For some reason, his utter casualness had made Tony relax almost instantly. 

“So tell me ‘bout yourself,” Clint said through a mouth of pizza. “What’s the weirdest thing about you?”

Tony looked deep in thought for about a minute before answering. “I can wiggle my ears?”

Clint’s face split into a big grin. “No way!” he declared. “Show us.”

Steve watched as Tony demonstrated his ability. It was a bit creepy to watch, but still pretty cool. 

“I’m gonna teach you all the things,” Clint promised. “We’ll make an adult playdate. Do you like dogs?”

“They’re okay?”

“Awesome, you can come to my place then! But just so you know, Lucky is way better than ‘okay’.” 

“It’s true,” said Phil, nodding wisely. “And I’m not even much of a dog person.”

Tony was far more relaxed when the doorbell rang for the last time, signaling the arrival of Bruce and Thor. He’d wanted them to come last because Thor, well . . . Thor didn’t really know how to regulate his inside voice and Tony often seemed spooked by loud voices.

As a counterpoint, Bruce was quite calm and reserved. Steve hoped he and Tony would bond over sciency stuff. 

To Steve’s surprise, after Tony startled just once at Thor’s loud voice, the Swede lowered it to a less boom-y boom. He’d never done that for any of them, so Steve was curious as to how Thor knew to make that change and why he’d never made it for any of them . . . 

Barely an hour in and Steve was able to let out that breath of relief he’d been holding. Tony and his friends were getting along far better than he’d hoped. 


	4. December

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve wants to see about taking the physical side of their relationship a bit further . . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya folks! This chapter contains some content about dubious consent, although not between Steve and Tony. Just making sure I don't trigger anyone! Happy reading!

December

When planning for date dumber nine (and maybe Steve really should’ve just stopped counting already), Steve finally screwed up the courage to ask Tony about maybe taking the physical side of their relationship further. Rhodey had said he’d probably need to initiate that. 

“I’ll go slow,” Steve said, in what he hoped was a soothing tone. “And if you don’t like something just say so.”

“Ihaveahardtimesayingno,” Tony said very quickly without drawing a breath, deliberately not looking at Steve.

Steve’s brow furrowed. “What was that?”

“I just- can’t always. Um. Say no.” Tony looked like he was dying.

“I don’t understand,” Steve said. Because he didn’t. 

“It’s hard, okay?” Tony snapped. 

Steve could think of only one reason saying a simple word would be hard. “Tony,” he said quietly. “What would happen when you told Obadiah no?”

“Nothing!” Tony snapped. He was suddenly all agitated, and Steve wasn’t sure what to do. “Nothing happened because it didn’t make a goddamn difference. Sometimes he’d say, ‘You’re not allowed to say no to me’.”

“That’s- that’s really not okay.” Steve’s mouth was way too dry. “You can  _ always _ say no Tony. Especially to me.”

“Don’t you think I  _ know _ that?” Tony’s anger didn’t seem to be dissipating in a hurry. “I don’t get why everyone says that. ‘That’s not okay? I’m not like him, I’m different?’ Like I don’t know much he fucked me up and how irregular it was? I’m the one who has to deal with it all, I  _ know! _ ”

“I wasn’t trying to say-”

“I know, Steve.” Tony’s shoulders suddenly hunched, like all the fight had gone out of him. “Sorry. I-”

“You don’t have to apologize,” Steve interrupted. “And you don’t have to explain.”

“No.” Tony scowled. “Don’t shut me up. I want to explain.”

Steve bit back his protest that he wasn’t trying to shut Tony up in favor of listening to what he had to say. 

“Okay.” Tony took in a deep measured breath. “Obadiah fucked me up. I mean  _ really _ fucked me up. And I know the extent of it better than anyone else. So when people have the need to point out how much he sucked? It makes me feel like you think I’m not self aware. Or that I have no concept of what’s normal.” Tony half smiled. “Maybe I don’t. But I do know my childhood wasn’t.”

Oh. “I’m really sorry, Tony,” Steve said earnestly. “I didn’t think about how that would sound to you.”

“Don’t apologize.” Tony scowled harder. “You didn’t say anything bad. That comment alone would have been fine. It just piled up on top of everyone else's comments and I snapped. So I’m sorry.”

“We’ll have to agree to disagree on this one,” Steve told him.

Tony shrugged his acceptance. He seemed far calmer now that he’d said his bit.

“Can I . . . ?” Steve held his arms out awkwardly.

“Yeah.” Tony ducked his head and went willingly against Steve’s chest. “Thanks.”

“Do you not want to try anything tonight then?” Steve asked.

Tony pulled away far enough to glare Steve straight in the face. “How the fuck did you get that from anything I just said?”

“You said you can’t say no!” Steve protested. “Shouldn’t we- I don’t know, try and work on that first?”

“I said that  _ sometimes _ I have  _ trouble _ saying no,” Tony corrected. “I’m not going to let you rape me, jeez.”

“I’m not sure how comfortable I am-”

“Just listen for a yes,” Tony interrupted. “If you don’t get one straight out then ask. And who knows? Maybe I’ll be comfortable saying no tonight.”

\----------

“Right.” Steve swallowed hard. “So maybe we can go over what you’re definitely okay with first?”

“If you’d like.” Tony looked faintly amused. 

Steve felt like a teenager again. He hadn’t been this uncertain about being with someone since he’d lost his virginity! Maybe not even then. And this was basically a scheduled makeout session which didn’t exactly help.

“Okay. So kissing?”

“Obviously I’m okay with that.”

Steve held himself back from pointing out that Tony had yet to initiate a kiss with  _ him _ \- but it was fine.

“Can I touch you?”

Tony pursed his lips. “Over the clothes? Sure. Under? Maybe, I’ll see.”

“And-”

“Can we just do it, please? This is starting to get awkward.”

“Alright.” Steve sighed. “You mind coming here? It’s a little hard to reach you from the bed, sweetheart.”

“Oh. right.” Tony got up from the arm chair he’d been curled on and took a few hesitant steps to the foot of Steve’s bed.

“That’s right,” Steve coaxed. He pulled Tony into the V of his legs. “I’m gonna kiss you now, that okay?”

“I already said it was fine, Steve.” 

Steve planted one on the genius before he could finish his eye roll. Tony let out an adorable surprised little ‘mmph!’ and began to kiss him back.

Steve paused the making out long enough to scoot back a little on the bed. “Mind joining me up here?”

“S-sure.”Ah, there was the little stutter Tony had talked about.

It was good enough for Steve. He hauled Tony up by the arms so that the smaller man was practically in his lap. “You wanna lie down?”

“Okay.” Tony looked horribly unsure, so Steve kissed him again. Tony always seemed to relax when doing something he was familiar with. 

“Do you think you’ll be more comfortable on top or on bottom? Or we could do sides,” Steve added as an afterthought. “You know, face to face.”

“Promise you won’t crush me?” Tony asked. His tone was casual but his eyes were terrified.

“I swear I won’t put all my weight on you Tony. No crushing.”

“Okay.” Tony sucked in a breath and proceeded not to move.

“You want to be on your back?” Steve gently coaxed Tony into a reclining position and pressed another kiss to his lips. “Okay?”

“Yeah. It’s- it’s fine. This is fine.”

Steve nearly had to suppress a laugh. Tony was pressed into the mattress, only his head slightly raised because of the pillows it rested upon. And he looked like he was preparing for a doctor’s exam. Now that just wouldn’t do. He cupped Tony’s cheek gently and continued kissing him. He let his other hand trail down Tony’s side, stopping at his hip. All his weight was balanced on his elbow,  _ not  _ on Tony.

Tony’s hands tentatively raised to twine themselves in Steve’s hair, and he seemed to relax into this new position. Well, relaxed until Steve was toying with the hem of his shirt.

“Can I take it off?” Steve asked.

Tony chewed on his bottom lip and drew his hands back, suddenly looking quite terrified again.

“Or not,” Steve murmured. “That’s alright. Can I touch you though? Is that okay?”

“Yeah that’s- that’s fine.”

“Up your shirt?” Steve clarified.

“Yeah, go for it,” Tony said.

Steve let his hand creep under the fabric, and then he just- caressed that bit of bare skin. 

Tony flinched violently, his hand flying up from his side to cover Steve’s. “Sorry, sorry sorry,” he chanted. “That was fine, I just- sorry.”

“No no, it’s fine,” Steve soothed. “Are you sure that’s okay?”

Tony nodded, even as his hand tightened over Steve’s. “You can keep going.”

Steve drew back.

Tony’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you stopping?”

“You don’t seem very comfortable,” Steve said. “Maybe we should-”

“Don’t stop,” Tony insisted. “I swear, I was just startled. Your hands were cold.”

Steve was perfectly aware that his hands were not cold. His hands just didn’t do that. But whatever made Tony feel better, honestly. 

“Alright.” Hoping to distract him a little, Steve looped Tony’s arms around his neck and kissed him again. This time when he slipped his hand up the younger man’s shirt, he didn’t startle. Steve grinned a little. Progress! 

He decided to lay a kiss to the side of Tony’s mouth, working his way along the jawline and towards Tony’s neck. Tony’s head seemed to tip back of its own accord and he let out a quiet moan as Steve began pressing kisses and nibbling there. 

Meanwhile, Steve’ hand had progressed quite far up Tony’s torso. He ran his fingers lightly over a nipple, just to see what would happen. 

Tony let out a more guttural sounding moan and grabbed Steve’s wrist with both hands. Not to push his hand away- but to hold it there. 

“That felt good?” Steve asked, just to be sure. 

“Yeah,” Tony said. He let go of Steve’s wrist, looking chagrined. “Yeah- I-”

“That’s good,” Steve interrupted. He winked. “I like sensitive nipples in a guy.”

“Right,” Tony muttered. “Right.”

Steve pinched at Tony’s nipple more firmly, loving the way Tony shivered. Then he withdrew his hand from Tony’s shirt, moving down to his hip. He ran his hand slowly downwards, giving Tony plenty of notice as to where he was going. He cupped the globe of Tony’s ass. Tony let out a groan in response. 

“That feels good?” Steve asked.

Tony nodded. When Steve leaned down to kiss him again, Tony’s legs curled up around his, putting their crotches flush against each other.

Steve couldn’t help a moan of his own, hitching Tony’s thigh up and grinding down. He could feel himself beginning to get hard from the friction. He wondered if Tony noticed.

Apparently he did, because Tony stiffened, batting at Steve’s arm and tried to scramble up against the headboard. “Wait. Stop.”

Steve rolled off of him instantly. “What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing.” Tony was blushing like a fire engine and studiously avoiding Steve’s gaze. “I just- I think that’s good, uh, for now.”

“Okay,” Steve said evenly, while desperately wishing his developing hard-on away. “Did you uh, enjoy yourself?”

“Mhm.” Tony not so subtly turned his head away and Steve could see that his neck was scarlet too. 

“Do you want to stay here?” Steve asked. “Or do you want to leave? Should I leave?”

“Stay here,” Tony said quietly. “If that’s okay.”

So he wasn’t running away. Thank God. Steve let out a breath of relief.

“But are you going to uh,” Tony waved his hand vaguely in the direction of Steve’s crotch. “Take care of that first?”

Steve glanced down. “It’ll go away.”

“Are you sure? It felt pretty-” Tony stopped talking abruptly. “Never mind.”

Steve couldn’t help a quiet chuckle. “Don’t worry about it, honey.”

“Holy fuck,” Tony said faintly. “You weren’t even completely hard, were you?”

“You really don’t need to worry about it,” Steve insisted. 

Tony squawked incoherently. “I- you- if- but-”

Steve shifted into a more comfortable position and held out his arms. “Want to cuddle?”

Tony glanced pointedly down at Steve’s crotch. “I don’t know, do I?”

Steve couldn’t hold back a snort. “I promise you won’t feel a thing.”

“‘Kay,” Tony said, in a tone that simply dripped with skepticism. 

“I swear,” Steve insisted. “Trust me?”

“Not at all,” Tony muttered, but he crawled into Steve’s embrace anyways. 

\----------

Steve awoke with a hard-on  _ of course _ . How could he not have one when he was spooning such a gorgeous creature? 

Tony still seemed to be asleep, so Steve just laid as still as possible, not wanting Tony to wake up and feel it and freak out like he sort of had last night. He let out a breath of relief as it started to go down, and adjusted his grip on Tony.

As Steve moved his hands into a better, more grippable position, he encountered -oh. Looked like he wasn’t the only one with a morning wood. Steve’s fear may have intensified a little. Even more so, when Tony gave a little groan at the touch and his hips rocked forwards. The sound went straight to Steve’s groin and his boner decided to make a reappearance. 

“Steve . . .” Tony’s voice was raspy.

Horrified, Steve realized he was still kind of palming Tony’s bulge. He quickly moved his hand away. 

Tony grabbed his wrist and pulled Steve’s hand back to his crotch. 

“Tony,” Steve whispered. “Tony, are you sure?” 

There was another insistent buck of Tony’s hips. 

“ _ Tony! _ ” Steve grabbed Tony firmly to make him still, his eyes widening when he felt Tony . . . jerk. “I need a yes or no.”

“Yes,  _ yes _ , Jesus Christ, yes.” Tony ground out. 

Steve tentatively slipped his fingers past the waistband of Tony’s sweats and- oh.

He had no idea what the other man was embarrassed or insecure about, because he sure had a nice cock. It didn’t feel particularly small, seemed perfectly proportional, and it was absolutely  _ weeping _ . 

Steve gathered up the pre-come to make sure there was no chafing, and began a slow firm stroke down the length of Tony’s cock. 

Tony let out a bit-off cry and grabbed his pillow, burying his face into it. 

“That feel good?” Steve crooned into his ear. “You sound beautiful sweetheart, that’s it. Just let go.” He still had a pretty firm grip around Tony’s chest, holding Tony to him securely. Remembering last night, Steve let the fingers of his other hand trail over Tony’s nipples lightly. 

Tony gripped Steve’s arm, the one that was holding him still, with one hand. His nails dug in deep enough that Steve felt it, but Tony wasn’t trying to pry him away, just trying to hold on.

It didn’t last long, Steve felt Tony drenching his hand after just a few faster strokes, his whole body going taut as a bowstring, letting out a strangled noise. 

Oh God, Steve’s cock was  _ aching _ . 

“Holy. Fucking. Shit.  _ Steve _ ,” Tony breathed, letting the pillow fall away. 

“Morning, sweetheart.” Steve didn’t even bother trying to fight off his wide goofy smile. He gingerly withdrew his hand from Tony’s pants and groped for the hand towel on his bedside (he’d planted it there last night, with optimistic hope) to wipe his fingers off. 

“I can’t believe I just did that,” Tony said dazedly.

Steve chuckled. “Well technically I think I did most of the work.”

“I can’t believe I _ let you _ do that.”

“Well, thank you for letting me.”

“Thank  _ me _ ?” Tony turned over to face Steve, his eyes wide and chagrined. “I should be thanking you!”

“We can just both be happy,” Steve suggested. “I mean . . . we are, right? Happy about this?”

Tony nodded vigorously. “Hell yeah we are.” Then his gaze dropped down to Steve’s rather prominent bulge. “Should I-”

“I’ve got it,” Steve interrupted. “You should go take a shower.”

“Right. Right, yeah.” Tony seemed to be having some trouble tearing his eyes away. 

“Go on,” Steve said fondly. “I’d give you a kiss, but . . . morning breath.”

“I’ll be expecting one after,” Tony promised. 

Steve jerked off in his own shower, one hand braced against the wall, his teeth gritted as he replayed Tony’s reactiveness in his head. 

He took a quick cold rinse to forestall yet another hard-on, cursing his high libido. Then he brushed his teeth -- all the better to kiss Tony with, and went to go make them breakfast. 

\----------

Tony trotted in, shirtless and blushing, still damp from his shower. “Nice apron.” (Pictured  [ here ](https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1CAPPDO_enUS767US769&biw=1366&bih=609&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=blUEXamsNYHp_QaLk4a4Aw&q=cute+aprons+with+sayings&oq=cute+aprons+with&gs_l=img.1.0.0l2.5504.6108..7485...0.0..0.233.984.0j2j3......0....1..gws-wiz-img.......0i30j0i8i30j0i24.dZynLDTEU60#imgrc=8N_-WTggPZcKMM:) ) 

Steve smiled. “Thought it was fitting.” He took his attention off the bubbling pancakes for a moment to give Tony a kiss. “Want chocolate chips?”

“Yes please.” Tony went to make himself coffee, pouring out a glass of milk for Steve. 

It was extremely domestic and Steve thought he might melt from warm fuzzy feelings. 

“Cake’s up!” Steve said brighty, flipping the pancakes onto two plates. “Maple syrup? Whipped cream?”

“Yes and yes,” Tony said passionately. “God fucking bless you.”

Steve smiled fondly and got the syrup—real maple, because Tony was a syrup snob—and the whipped cream. He watched his lover (they were lovers now and Steve couldn’t stop smiling about it) completely drench his breakfast in sugary stickiness.

“Tith ith delithith,” Tony said with his mouth full. He swallowed. “Thank you.” 

“My pleasure.” Steve took a bite of his own (considerably less syrupy and less smothered in whipped cream) breakfast and let out an appreciative hum. 

“It was definitely my pleasure,” Tony muttered. He blushed scarlet and shoved another bite of pancake into his mouth. 

“Still talking about the food?” Steve teased.

Tony sniffed haughtily. “I can be talking about more than one thing.” 

“Well you sure know how to stroke a guy’s ego,” Steve said happily. 

“And you sure can stroke-” Tony went bright red and closed his jaw with an audible ‘click’. “You know what? Scratch that.” He quickly stuffed more sugary pancake in to plug up his mouth. 

This Tony was amazing, Steve thought. Cracking pervy jokes? Complimenting Steve’s handjob technique? (not that he had an actual technique). He’d never seen his fiancé this comfortable, even if there still was a whole lot of blushing and stammering going on. 

A bit of syrup dripped onto Tony’s chest and Steve’s mouth literally watered. What he wouldn’t give to lick it up . . .

But alas, Tony swore and wiped it off himself with a napkin. 

“So . . . shirtless is okay?” Steve asked to distract himself. Because last night Tony had been against it. Looked like a lot of things had changed this morning. 

“No. Yes.” Tony shook his head. “It’s a context thing. Just being shirtless isn’t inherently sexual but you taking my shirt off, with the implication of more coming off too, that made uncomfortable.” 

“Gotcha.”

Tony squinted. “Although with the way you’re looking at me . . .”

“Sorry.” Steve was the one blushing this time. 

“It’s alright.” Quieter, “I like the way you look at me.” 

And damn, if that didn’t just set Steve’s heart all aflutter. 


	5. January

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update (February) will be on valentines day, as the chapter is heavily Valentine's themed. And then all additional updates will likely be in the month they're supposed to be for, which means they'll slow down some. Sorry :'(  
> But happy reading!

January

Unfortunately, Tony seemed unwilling to have a repeat performance of the handjob morning. He went back to his own bedroom, and every physical advance Steve tried to make past some kissing was frantically rebuffed. 

Steve had been hoping to turn their New Year’s kiss into a little something more, but Tony had shied away when Steve’s hands started wandering. He wasn’t bitter or anything, but watching all his friends “subtly” leave his party at midnight to go get laid was the tiniest bit irritating. 

It wasn’t that Steve was a sex fiend, really. He was perfectly content with watching porn or constructing fantasies and jerking off to them. Steve just wanted to know what had changed since Tony would barely even talk to him about it. 

“Sometimes when I ask you what kind of things you like or want, you look like you’d rather die than tell me,” Steve said without thinking. He felt an immediate stab of regret, and waited for Tony’s reaction. 

To his surprise, instead of shuttering down, Tony just shrugged. “That about sums it up.”

“Why?”

Tony scowled and crossed his arms. “Why do you think?”

“I have no idea,” Steve said honestly. “That’s why I’m asking.”

“Obie used to take everything away from me.” Tony shifted uncomfortably. “Anything I expressed interest in. He literally wouldn’t let me read because I liked it. Wouldn’t let me have friends. If he knew something was my favorite he’d either find some reason to take it or he’d just mock it until I felt weird or bad for liking it.”

Steve’s stomach twisted. He was really regretting his question. But he’d gotten into it, now he had to hear it through. 

“But- but you know I won’t do that, right?” Steve asked.

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Do I?”

“I won’t,” Steve said with conviction. He flashed back to that conversation they’d had after Rhodey had left. 

_ “If I tell you what I want, then you’ll know.” _

_ “Know what?” _

_ “What I want.” _

Steve hadn’t realized at the time, what that meant. That everything he’d ever wanted had been held over Tony and used against him. He hadn’t known, because he was quite naive to just how damaging Tony’s childhood had been. 

“Look, Steve. I just. I feel like there’s a lot of pressure for me to only like ‘normal’ things. And honestly? I have no idea what normal even is. So yeah, I’m terrified to ask for things I want, just in case you’re freaked out, or you laugh, or- or even telling you this has me feeling like-”

“I think I understand,” Steve interrupted. Then he mentally berated himself for interrupting Tony. 

Tony, however, looked relieved to have his frantic babbling cut off. “Yeah?”

“I think . . . well I think everyone has something along the lines of those insecurities,” Steve told him. “Yours are just a little more . . . pronounced.” Their conversation had morphed into something . . . else now. 

Tony cocked his head to the side.

Steve pressed on. “But Tony, this is a two way street. You’ll be finding out more about me and what I’m . . . into. And maybe you’ll think some of it is a bit strange, or you won’t want to deal with it. But I have faith that you won’t make fun of me over anything. Even if you did, I think I'd get over it.” 

Tony opened his mouth hesitantly. “Is there anything you’re . . . into?”

Steve studied his face. “Do you really want to talk about this right now?” He carefully kept his voice very neutral, to indicate that either a yes or a no would be absolutely fine. 

“No,” Tony admitted, relief clear in his tone. “I mean eventually, sure. But not right now.”

Steve was just happy that Tony felt secure enough to say no. 

\----------

Tony had decided to attend an actual college come the Spring semester, and Steve was astonished by how many complications were involved.

Applying and getting accepted had been the easiest part, since it was a community college who accepted pretty much everyone. But even for that, Tony had needed his social security number, which he did not know. Then he needed a least one form of ID to get his student ID, and his passport was still with Obadiah. 

God bless Jarvis, who did most of the back and forth for them, getting Tony all the legal documents he needed. 

The whole thing made Steve extra grateful for his ma, who must have taken care of all that stuff for him. 

\----------

It was Superbowl Sunday and Steve finally had time to kick back, maybe watch the game later. For now he and Tony were struggling through some casual conversation. 

“So,” Tony began. He twisted his fingers together nervously. Tony opened his mouth and closed a few more times.

“Why don’t you come sit down?” Steve suggested. 

The teen sat down hesitantly, on the edge of the couch as if ready to flee at a moments notice. “There’s another reason for the whole no-sex thing.” Tony covered his face with his hands. “But it’s  _ so _ stupid.” 

Steve slid down the couch and gently removed Tony’s hands. “I’m sure it isn’t.”

“Oh no, it really is. You’re gonna laugh.”

Steve just sat back, carefully making all his features appear open and non-judgmental.

Tony sighed. “It’s . . . astrology.”

Steve played with Tony’s hands. He tried really hard not to crack a smile. “Yeah? What’s your sign?”

Tony looked surprised. “Gemini.”

“Let me guess . . . no compatibility between Geminis and Cancers?”

“Not really. But specifically in the bedroom.” Tony’s hands twitched within his own. “Do you even believe in this stuff?”

“Well no,” Steve admitted. “But Bucky’s obsessed. You should have heard his freakout over his and Sam’s compatibility. Apparently a lot can go wrong in a Libra/Pisces relationship. But do you want to know what conclusion he reached?”

Tony nodded hesitantly. 

“There’s no such thing as a ‘bad’ pairing. All relationships take work and communication. Plus,” Steve smiled crookedly. “What they show you online is just the sun signs. Your whole self is apparently determined by much more than that, like your rising and your moon sign and a bunch of other sky stuff I can’t remember.”

“Oh.” Tony looked like he was pondering the subject. “Should I plot out our natal charts?”

This time Steve couldn’t hold back a huff of laughter. “If you want to, sure. Although I have no idea when I was born. I can dig up my birth certificate if you’d really like to, though.”

“Or I guess we can try that work and communication thing,” Tony mumbled. 

“That does seem to be the best course of action,” Steve agreed. He slid into flirtation mode, hoping it wasn’t bad timing. “Plus if you want, later I can show you just how sexually compatible we  _ can _ be.”

Tony wrenched his hands back and went an impressive shade of red. Steve really hoped that never stopped (Not the flinching away thing, the blushing). “S-sure.” 

Aw yeah, that’s what Steve liked to hear. 

“But there is just one thing I’d like to know,” Steve said patiently. And look, they should have talked about this when it happened, but Steve hadn’t wanted to ruin the afterglow. “Can you tell me what it was that made it okay? The er, handjob?”

Tony’s shoulders hunched. “I was half asleep and horny? And- and you weren’t looking at me. I think that helped.”

Steve’s brow furrowed. “I wasn’t looking at you?”

“You couldn’t see my face,” Tony explained. “And I couldn’t see yours.” 

“Do you not like making eye contact?” Steve asked. “Or is it literally faces?”

“Well no, I don’t like making eye contact. Or- I don’t like being required to make eye contact. Sometimes it gets uncomfortable.”

Steve nodded, filing that away for later. He could do something about that.

“But I’m also really self conscious,” Tony said. “Of my face.”

Steve traced Tony’s cheekbone with his thumb. “ _ This _ face? What’s there to be self conscious of? You’re beautiful.”

Tony made a face. “I am  _ smoking hot _ , thank you very much.”

“Of course,” Steve agreed immediately.

“I meant the face I make when . . . you know.”

“You orgasm?” 

Tony flushed. “That.”

Steve shrugged. “Honestly, most people don’t have super sexy O faces. The sexy part comes from the fact that I’ve made you come.” 

“Right, but like . . .” Tony’s nose scrunched up. “I can’t say for sure, but I think I sort of look like I’m sneezing painfully.”

“That’s pretty normal,” Steve chuckled. “But if it makes you feel better, that’s probably about how I look too.”

Tony shook his head. “No way.”

“Well technically I’ve never seen it,” Steve said. “Eyes closed and everything. No mirror. Never had any complaints, though.” 

Tony mumbled something under his breath. 

Steve cocked his head. “Sorry, didn’t quite catch that.”

“I can’t imagine you’d ever look anything but hot as fuck.” Tony said louder, going fairly red. 

“Right back atcha,” Steve said fondly, and kissed the tip of Tony’s nose. 

\----------

Later that night found Steve and Tony shirtless (!!!) doing some good ole bumping and grinding. Like teenagers, which Steve supposed Tony still was. 

Steve decided to get ‘adventurous,’ slowly kissing his way down Tony’s chest, making sure to give his nipples some attention. He just couldn’t let that go. 

Then Steve was hovering at his waistband, Tony looking down at him with wide eyes. 

“May I?” Steve asked. 

Tony gave a jerky nod of his head. 

“Yes?” Steve persisted. 

“Y-yes.” 

Steve pressed one last kiss right under Tony’s belly button and slid his pants down. 

“No,” Tony blurted out, hoisting his pants back up, scrambling backwards, nearly kicking Steve in the chest. “Sorry, I can’t-”

“It’s alright,” Steve hastened to reassure him, carefully drawing back so as to not spook Tony further. 

“I’m sorry,” Tony repeated.

“Tony, it’s okay, I’m not upset.” It was like trying to calm a frightened animal, Steve thought. With shying away and everything. “You’re perfectly entitled to say no.” 

“But- but I said yes.”

“And then you said no.” Realization shocked Steve’s chest. “Honey, I’m really proud of you for saying no.” 

“Y-you- you are?” 

“I am.” Steve reached out a hand. “Can I come over there?” 

A look of confusion flashed across Tony’s face, like he couldn’t fathom why Steve would even ask. “Yeah.” 

Steve scooted closer to Tony and tentatively put his hand on Tony’s shoulder. “You okay, sweetheart?” He could see Tony’s pulse beating wildly at his neck.

Tony shuddered and leaned into him. “I- I think so.” His voice was raw. “Thank you for stopping.” 

“I will always back off if you ask me to,” Steve promised. He wrapped his other arm around Tony loosely, then more tightly when Tony sagged in his hold, burying his face in Steve’s shoulder. 

They ended up just watching the Superbowl. It was still a good night. 


	6. February

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day!

February

“I’m not sure I’ll ever be ready to have sex,” Tony admitted in a whisper. 

Steve frowned at him. “What makes you say that?

“It just- it feels really final somehow? Like too big of a step. And don’t get me wrong, I want to have sex with you. I really want to have sex with you. But as long as I have the option to back out, I’m going to take it.”

“Well some people would categorize what we’ve been doing up until now as sex,” Steve said gently. “You even said it yourself, way back at the beginning. Virginity is a social construct.”

Tony scowled. “Drop the pretense, we know I’m talking about anal.”

Steve gave a shrug. “So penetration isn’t everyone’s thing. I won’t be mad or disappointed if you don’t ever want to do it. It’s actually way overdrawn in the media, most gay couples-”

“But that’s not it!” Tony flushed. “I mean . . . maybe I won’t know for sure until I try but I’m pretty sure it’ll be ‘my thing’ that’s not the issue.”

There was a moment of silence as Steve waited for Tony to expound on that. When he didn’t, Steve gently prompted, “So then what’s the issue . . .?”

“I don’t know how to explain it.” Tony’s voice dropped even quieter. “Anxiety? Not exactly knowing what I want? The idea that my body is going- going to be-” 

“Violated?” Steve supplied. 

Tony made a face. “That makes it sound nonconsensual.” 

“Penetrated? Exposed? Vulnerable?”

“Those work a bit better.” Tony nodded. 

Steve stroked his chin, thinking. “Have you ever tried you know, with your fingers?” 

Tony shook his head.

Well he may as well ask . . . “Would you let me try with my fingers?”

“That was the grand hypothetical plan. You know, If I can tolerate you getting that- that close.” 

“And what about . . . toys?”

Tony shook his head again.”This is going to sound really, I don’t know, cheesy? But-” he mumbled the last bit, too low for Steve to hear.

“A bit louder sweetheart,” he prompted gently. 

“I want the first thing to be you.” 

Steve’s heart did a funny swoopy thing. From the look on Tony’s face, his stomach appeared to be doing the same. Steve decided to press on. “What if we set a date?” 

“A date?”

“Yeah, like we decide that by a certain time, we will have had sex.”

Tony hesitated. “And if by that date we haven’t . . . ?”

“Then nothing.” Steve shrugged. “I just thought maybe putting it in a schedule might help.” 

“Well,” Tony said. “I guess it couldn’t hurt. How do we pick the date?”

“Maybe on an anniversary?” Steve suggested. 

“Like . . . when we first met? When you propositioned me and then asked me out? Our first date?” Tony made a nervous sound in the back of his throat. “I’ll be honest, I don’t remember when any of that was.” 

“Oh yeah, me neither.” That was a bald faced lie, but Steve didn’t want to put any pressure on Tony to be a romantic sap just because he was. “Well uh, Valentine’s Day is coming up? Or maybe one of our birthdays?”

“Valentine’s is . . . too close,” Tony said. “It’s what, in two weeks? Don’t think I’ll magically be okay with you fucking me that soon.”

Steve gave an understanding nod. “That’s fair. Anyways, I have plans to romance the hell out of you. No sex needed.” 

“Jeez, you’re such a sap,” Tony muttered, faint pink dusting his cheeks. He twitched in that way that Steve had wrongly prior assumed meant he was uncomfortable. Now he knew Tony squirmed like that when he liked what he was hearing. 

Steve couldn’t resist kissing him. “And you like it.”

“Yeah. Anyways. Maybe my birthday? It’s in three months.” Tony bit his already kiss-bruised bottom lip. “Think I’ll be okay with full-on nudity in three months?” 

“I can’t be sure of where you’ll be,” Steve told him. “How about a soft date and a hard date? Like with limits, do you know how those work?” 

Tony gave him a dry look. “Obviously. Sexpert, remember?” 

“Right, right.” Steve tried not to smile. Tony was adorable when he pulled his all-knowing act. It just so happened Tony actually did know quite a lot. “So uh, if you’re really not sure then three months, your birthday can be the soft date?”

“That sounds good. What about the hard date?” 

A small but persistent idea was niggling at the back of Steve’s brain. He was Catholic, after all. “ . . . our wedding night?” He suggested tentatively. 

Tony snickered, but then his expression quickly turned thoughtful. “Do we even have a date for that?”

“I don’t know if I told you, we finally have a date for the official announcement about the companies,” Steve said. “In late June. So I thought we could set a wedding date for early June? Everyone will have just finished finals and stuff so it should work out, if that’s okay with you.” 

“That’s fine,” Tony said quickly. “I just have to let my mom know, because she threatened to cut me out of her will if she doesn’t get to help plan it.” 

Steve nodded seriously. “I’ll have to put her in touch with my mom then.” 

\----------

“I got you something,” Steve said, holding out a badly wrapped blob with a hopeful smile. 

Tony balked. “It isn't Valentine's yet, is it? Because I didn’t get you anything.”

“It is not,” Steve assured him. “ You’ve still got a week. And it’s not your birthday either, in case you were wondering. Also, you don’t have to get me anything for Valentine’s”

“Oh. Good.” Tony relaxed. “I’m still getting you something, but what’s the occasion?”

Steve smiled sunnily. “No occasion. Just wanted to get you something.” They were dating, he could do that now. 

“Thank you.” Tony still looked like he had no idea what was happening. He took the package and looked at Steve. “Should I open it?”

“Please do.”

Without preamble, Tony slipped the paper off to reveal a leather case. “Glasses?” He opened the case. “Sunglasses.” He sounded pleasantly surprised but still perplexed. “Thank you?” 

“They’re mirrored,” Steve said, trying not to sound too eager. “No one will be able to see your eyes while you’re wearing them.”

Tony started to smile. “So I won’t have to make eye contact.” 

“Exactly!”

“Plus I get a stylish accessory,” Tony chortled. “I love it. Thank you.” 

“Of course.” Steve was just happy that Tony was happy. 

\----------

Steve finagled a way for Tony to fall asleep with him February 13th so that bright and early Valentine’s Day, he could bring his fiancé breakfast in bed. He was determined to make the day as romantic as possible, just to drive the point home that sex was not the most important part of a relationship. At least, not theirs. 

Tony was adorable, raggled with sleep. He looked so soft and warm, and the way he blinked up at Steve when the blond set the tray down made him feel all melty inside. 

“Mornin’ beautiful,” Steve said, smiling down at him. 

“Handsome,” Tony returned, his voice still blurred. 

"Brought you breakfast in bed."

"Food?" Tony sat up clumsily. "I love food."

It took everything Steve had to bite back an  _ I love you.  _ Instead he just slid into the bed next to Tony and laid the tray across their laps. 

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Are these heart shaped red velvet waffles?”

“Yes.”

“Nice.” 

The enthusiasm and gusto that Tony dug in with made Steve feel really good about his cooking. The truth was, he hadn’t even cooked much before Tony had come along. Steve had just needed a reason to start. 

His ma was going to be so proud when he finally cooked for her instead of the other way around. 

“So what’s on the itinerary today?” Tony asked, interrupting Steve’s thoughts. “Wait, let me guess. Long walk in central park. Lunch at a themed diner. Candlelit dinner. Am I close?” 

“Well you’re right about dinner,” Steve said smiling. “Fire safety has nothing on romance.” 

“I’ve always wanted to go out in a blaze of glory,” Tony mused. “So what are we doing for the rest of it then?”

“Well I thought we could stay in bed late,” Steve said, “take our time with digestion.” 

Tony eyed him suspiciously. “You didn’t get little chocolates to feed me for dessert, did you?”

Steve thought about the bag of heart-shaped chocolates that were as of that moment, sitting in the fridge. “Well . . .” 

Tony tugged Steve towards him. “C’mere, you.” And then proceeded to initiate (for the first time ever!) a long slow kiss. 

\----------

After their sappy-af breakfast in bed (yes, Steve did end up feeding Tony the chocolates for dessert. They only managed a few though, before Tony was too overcome by giggles to keep his mouth open) they headed out for a day at The  National Museum of Mathematics.

Tony was thrilled by all the exhibits, and Steve was content to watch his fiancé geek out. It was adorable, the way he got all excited and waved his hands around impassionately, explaining everything to Steve in even further depth than any tour guide or plaque could. 

Honestly, Steve just loved watching Tony.

They ate a late lunch at the crappy museum cafeteria, and it was perfect.

The only thing Steve hadn’t counted on was the museum being pretty empty. Right, not everyone would consider a math museum somewhere romantic to take their partner to on Valentine’s Day. 

Steve and Tony got through the museum pretty fast, even with all the time and explanations Tony gave to each exhibit. 

“No contingency plan?” Tony asked as they exited, eyebrows raised in amusement.

“I thought it would take longer,” Steve said sheepishly. “But it’s not a problem. I thought maybe we could finally make dinner together? We can just eat earlier.” 

“Sounds good to me,” Tony said agreeably. “What are we making?” 

“That is up to you,” Steve said. “We can buy whatever ingredients you need on the way back.”

“I know how to make gnocchi, like, four different ways,” Tony offered shyly. 

“That’s perfect!” Steve said enthusiastically. “How about we just make all of them?” He didn’t know much about Italian cuisine, to be honest. Unless he counted pizza and lasagna . . . 

“Tiramisu for dessert?” Tony asked. 

That one he knew. “Absolutely.”

So Steve might have planned this to be the most domestic Valentine’s Day ever on purpose, but that didn’t stop him from feeling warm contentment in his stomach as he and Tony perused the aisles together. Shopping together was just . . . so wholesome. He no longer had to dream wistfully about fulfilling his innocent married-life fantasies. They were pretty much a reality.

Helping Tony cook dinner was much the same way. They bustled around each other, not quite perfectly synced up, but close enough to satisfy Steve’s carnal need for domesticity. 

Steve ducked out near the end of the food prep to go set the table, hoping that Tony would be sufficiently wowed by the crisp white tablecloth (stain proof), the pretty (but durable) china, grape juice (in place of of wine), and tea lights on every available surface, casting a romantic glow over the whole setting. There was also a fire extinguisher within reach.

Steve headed back to the kitchen. 

Tony was humming something that sounded like it could be an opera under his breath as he stirred up the dessert. Steve hugged him from behind and pressed a kiss to Tony’s cheek. “Looking good.” 

Tony smiled up at Steve, completely at ease with the touch, even leaning into it. “It’ll taste even better.” 

\----------

After the amazingly delicious dinner (damn, Tony was a great cook) Steve led Tony to the living room and made him sit on the couch with his eyes closed. 

“You know you really didn’t need to get me anything,” Tony said, his face turned not quite towards where Steve was. “You planned this whole day.” 

“Technically I  _ made _ something for you,” Steve corrected. “Alright, you can open your eyes.” 

Tony’s eyes blinked open and then went wide. “Holy fuck. Did you draw that?” 

“I painted it,” Steve said, smiling. “Do you like it?”

“Are you kidding? It’s amazing. Damn. Holy shit.”

“Language,” Steve scolded playfully, extremely relieved that Tony was responding so enthusiastically. 

The painting was of a sleek robot in Tony’s favorite colors, red and gold. The background was the NYC skyline and right in the robot’s chest where a human’s heart would be, was a circle of blue that Steve had spent hours mixing until it matched the exact shade of his own eyes. 

He wouldn’t tell Tony this, but it was a hope and prayer that Tony would find room for Steve in his heart. And also, Steve knew that Tony liked his eyes. 

“I just noticed you didn’t have much wall decor,” Steve said. “And I know how much you like robots.”

“Love,” Tony corrected.

“Love,” Steve agreed. He once again had to bite back an  _ I love you.  _

“Well this is going right across from my bed,” Tony said. “I want to be able to see it all the time.” 

Steve beamed proudly. “I can put it up for you.” 

“Thank you. So much.” Tony looked down for a second. Then he looked back up. “I made you something too.” 

“Aw, Tony you didn't have to-”

“So you said,” Tony said, looking amused. “But I legally can’t not give you a gift after you did all this for me today.”

Steve tried to say something about how he wasn’t trying to get anything out of anyone, but Tony cut him off again. “Don’t worry! I had a lot of fun making it.”

Tony disappeared into his bedroom, and came out less than a minute later, lugging what appeared to be a large rectangle with a plug dangling from it. 

Steve watched as Tony plugged it into the nearest outlet and it turned on. It was a screen. It said “Remember: You’re hella hot!” then the words shifted and “Life is great!” appeared instead. 

“ . . . What is it?” Steve asked.

“Affirmations!” Tony said proudly. 

Steve’s shoulders started shaking. Then they shook some more. It went on for long enough that Tony started to look concerned. “ . . . Steve?” Tony asked tentatively. 

“I think this is the best gift I’ve ever gotten,” Steve said plainly. 

“. . . Really?”

“Tony- honey, no one has ever put this much work and thought into something for me.”

Tony frowned. “That’s sad.”

“No,” Steve corrected. “It’s amazing. You’re amazing, and this gift is amazing.“ It was also the funniest thing he’d ever received, including all of Clint’s gag-gifts. Steve didn’t have any more words, so he pulled Tony towards him and into a kiss. 

“Thank you,” Tony told him, after breaking the kiss. He leaned against Steve. “This was honestly the best time I’ve ever had.” 

“I’m still going to try and top it,” Steve promised. 

“Top . . . “ Tony muttered. “Yes. right. Bad Tony, no innuendos.” 

Steve just chuckled and pulled Tony closer. It really was the best Valentine’s ever. 


	7. March

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve's mom comes to visit, and Stony has a talk about therapy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this chapter is shorter than the others. Sorry bout that! But hope you enjoy anyways!

March

Steve’s mother might have retired to Florida like everyone else over the age of 50 from their neighborhood, but she visited several times a year. She particularly liked to visit in the dead of winter, claiming she missed New York snows. Why anyone would miss bitter cold and horrible travel conditions was beyond Steve. 

Sarah Rogers was finally going to meet Tony, and Steve was awash with mix of relief and trepidation. He could only imagine how Tony was feeling. 

His ma was wonderful, and she was sure to love Tony. But Tony . . . 

Well, Tony wasn’t always the happiest meeting new people. Then again, he’d taken to all of Steve’s friends well enough. Maybe Steve was overthinking it. 

Tony couldn’t come with Steve to the airport, since he had class. 

Around the time Tony was supposed to get home, there was a knock on the door, and for one horrible second, Steve’s heart seemed to freeze. 

The person at the door . . . was Tony. Tony had knocked, on the door, of his own house. 

“Tony?” 

“Um. Hi.” Tony at least looked sheepish. “Not sure why I knocked.”

Steve decided they could talk about it later. “Uh, that’s alright. Come meet my mother.” As he said it, it occurred to him that his mom’s presence might have been the reason for Tony’s impromptu knock. But again, it could wait until later.

“It’s so nice to meet you, honey,” Sarah Rogers said warmly. “I’m Sarah, but you can call me whatever you feel comfortable with.” 

“It’s really nice to meet you too,” Tony said with a nervous smile. “Steve talks about you a lot. Don’t worry, only good things.” 

“And he says only wonderful things about you.”

\----------

While Tony sort of tiptoed around Steve’s mother, slowly slowly warming up to her, Steve sort of figured out the issue.

Tony had a fear of adults. Well . . . adultier adults than people their age. He’d been super tense and leery around Steve at first, and he’d taken to Clint, the least adult adult ever, super quickly. 

Also, he’d apparently assumed that Steve’s mother owned the house and that he and Steve were just living there. Steve hadn’t known before that an anxiety attack could impair one’s memory (and logic), making Tony completely overlook the fact that Steve owned an actual company. And uh yes, he did own his own house. Plus he was paying for his mom’s condo in Florida. Anyways, it turned out Tony had been a lot more nervous about meeting Steve’s mother than he’d let on. 

With that in mind, Steve made sure to joke with his ma in front of Tony whenever possible, to show that she was chill, unlike the majority of Tony’s past parental figures.

Sarah Rogers quickly caught on, smart lady that she was, and she made a point to bond with Tony, knocking on his door herself to ask if he wanted to go get lunch with her on the days Steve was busy. 

Steve was assured that the lunches were resounding successes. He couldn't argue with the result.

Tony willingly hugged Sarah goodbye, and nodded when she said, “So I’ll be calling Maria to hash out wedding details. Don’t worry, I won’t let her go overboard.”

At that point, Steve felt compelled to tell Tony that if either of their mothers were likely to go overboard with wedding planning, it would be his mother. Tony just shook his head though.

“She asked me what I wanted, and I said nothing too big or fancy. I think she’ll listen. Maria, on the other hand, has pretty much just flat out ignored anything I wanted since my birth.”

Well, Steve couldn’t argue with that.

The complete icing on the cake was once they were back home after dropping Sarah off at the airport, and Tony sighed, “I’m glad she’ll be back soon.”

\----------

“My therapist says we should talk about sex more if we’re trying to have it.” 

Steve tried desperately not to choke on his orange juice. It was quite the ah . . . interesting thing to hear first thing in the morning, but if Steve knew anything about Tony, Tony had been sitting on this until he felt comfortable saying it. And that just so happened to be at 7:36 AM, right as he entered the kitchen.

“Oh, good you’re actually in here.” Tony looked ridiculously relieved. “I was hoping I’d only have to say that once.” 

A little bit of orange juice went up Steve’s nose as he tried and failed to hold back a laugh, which turned it into a cough. “Okay,” he said, once he’d gotten his breath back. “We can do that.”

“Great.” Tony consulted his phone and- he’d taken notes, this was so gosh darn cute. “So she said to start with our sexual experience, cuz you know, I’m all insecure about having none and I don’t even know how many-”

“Two girls,” Steve interrupted, anticipating the question, “and um. What are we counting for guys? Because I've been ‘all the way’, shall we say, with one guy but done some other stuff with two more.” 

“Gotcha.” Tony blew out a breath. “At least three times the experience I have, but we can round it up to four. That makes you about 400% more experienced.” He seemed pleased by his math. 

“We’ve done . . . other stuff,” Steve pointed out.

“But I've only done it with you and you’ve done it with more than just me,” Tony countered. “Anyways, does one sleepy handjob really count?” 

Steve’s brow furrowed. “Did you want more experience?” Not that he’d be okay with that, but . . .

“No!” Tony blurted out, eyes going wide. “God, no. It’s bad enough with just you, I mean-” he winced. “Not  _ bad _ , just difficult, uncomfortable, uhh takes a lot of getting used to? I think I’m making this sound worse and worse. . .” 

There were some mixed feelings for Steve, definitely. On one hand he hated himself for more or less stealing away Tony’s chances to gain any sort of experience and have a bachelor life of his own, as would be typical for an 18 year old. On the other hand, he didn’t want anyone touching Tony except him. 

And even worse, Steve hated the cold cruel world that had convinced Tony that Steve was his only chance at salvation and a possible sex life. That Steve was the only human on earth willing to be patient and kind and encouraging while Tony figured himself out a little. 

“But if you- if you did want some experience.” Steve cleared his throat. “You can go and get some, take as long as you need. Of course.” It would hurt like hell but Steve would do it for Tony. 

“What? Steve, no. I don’t want anyone else.” Tony looked heartbreakingly earnest. “Besides, our wedding is in three months. If I was going to go off and get some experience with someone else, I’ve left it a little late.”

Maybe it wouldn’t be so terrible if Steve kept him all to himself. Just for as long as Tony wanted. 

“I am . . .” Steve cleared his throat again, “really glad to hear it. Did your therapist say anything else?”

“She- she said to-” the rest was lost in a typical Tony mumble. 

Steve waited patiently, knowing that Tony knew full well Steve hadn’t heard him. 

“She said we might want to think about filling out an uh, a kink list?” Tony said, his cheeks flushing. “Cuz keeping it fresh and spicy is a relationship builder, so says her, and like, every sex advice site ever. Also the words ‘making love’ still makes me cringe. But! Uh, we can skip that part if you want to.” 

“The websites are right,” Steve assured him, just to see Tony blush even redder. They could address the ‘making love’ issue later. “The only problem I see is,” he said, “how will you know what you’re into?”

“Well there’s things I'm willing to try and things I’m not,” Tony said. He attempted a smirk. “Like I’m apparently unwillling to try the whole sex thing in general.” 

Steve’s smirk mimicked Tony’s. “Well we’ll just have to see about that, won’t we?”

“Alright!” Tony conceded. “I guess I’ll try almost anything once, if that helps at all. Maybe twice.” 

“If you don’t like something then you won’t have to try it twice,” Steve promised. 

Tony’s forehead wrinkled. “Even if it’s something you really like?” 

“Yes,” Steve said firmly. “You should never feel uncomfortable, not even at my expense.” 

“But- that’s not how healthy relationships work,” Tony pointed out. “What if something I don’t particularly like or hate is something you really enjoy? You shouldn’t have to go completely without. We need to uh, compromise.”

“Tony-” Steve sighed, closing his eyes. Who would have thought the day would come that  _ Tony _ would be schooling  _ him _ in what a healthy relationship looked like? Although . . . In this case Tony was absolutely right. Putting another person entirely before everything he wanted or needed wasn’t healthy. “-You’re right.” The words were forced from his throat, a little painful to admit. “You’re right about compromise. And healthy relationships.” Steve smiled, and it was almost genuine, too. “I think your therapist is really helping this time.” 

Tony lit up, making Steve’s difficult admission entirely worth it. “Really? That’s awesome!” He blushed, looking a little bashful, but pleased and happy nonetheless. 

“More importantly . . . do you think it’s helping?” 

“I . . . think it is,” Tony said with a cautious smile. “And Rhodey thinks so too.”

Well if anything were going to decide it, it’d be Rhodey’s opinion. About time, too. This was Tony’s third therapist. 


	8. April

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Tony's relationship continues to evolve and some very important words are said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My bad, I think this is the shortest chapter?? But hang in there folk, we're almost done!

April

Although the weather was slowly warming, one weekend found Tony sick in bed with some sort of mild flu. Steve, even busy on weekends, had to take time off to care for Tony and help him study for his finals. Tony protested, of course. That he could take care of himself, and that he had no real need to study as he was already familiar with everything he needed to know. Steve was firm on the matter, and it had  everything nothing to do with getting to wait on Tony hand and foot and spend long swathes of uninterrupted time with him. 

“Tell me more about your past sexperience,” Tony demanded abruptly, in the middle of dinner, which they were eating in Steve’s bed. He paused. “Uh, I mean . . . if you want to. Please.” 

Steve snorted into his peas, luckily managing to keep it from turning into laughter. It was a close thing. So, Tony wanted to bring past experience up again. This time in more detail. Alright then. “Sure thing. Want me to go chronologically?” 

“Sure.”

“Well there was my first boyfriend in high school when I was 15. We ‘did stuff’ but didn’t go ‘all the way,’ as you say.” Steve winked. “It ended naturally after about a year.”

“Name?” Tony prompted. 

“Gabriel.”

“Okay.” Tony nodded. “And after him?” 

Steve winced. “After him was Peggy. First girl I ever had sex with. It did not end well. I’d prefer not to talk about it just now, if that's alright.” 

“Whatever you want,” Tony said. “I won’t push you into talking about things you don’t want to. Of course. Boundaries.”

“Thank you.” Steve smiled at Tony warmly. “I’ll tell you another time then. Oh, and that was at 17.” Steve winced slightly, and then pushed on. “After Peggy was Morita. We just hooked up a few times, it never really went anywhere else. He was the first guy I had penetrative intercourse with though.” 

Tony sighed. “Only you could make the words ‘penetrative intercourse’ sound completely normal.” 

“. . . Thank you?” 

“Sure.” Tony cleared his throat. “Anyways, go on.” 

“Yeah, alright. Then came Tim. We dated briefly, turned out we weren’t compatible, ah, sexually.”

Tony raised an eyebrow.

Steve blushed. “Can I tell you about that later too? Or maybe never?” 

“Alright,” Tony said. Then his eyes widened, as if he’d just thought of something. “Wait, but what if that happens to us?” 

Okay, it looked like Steve would have to give some details. “Look Tony, Tim wanted to do some things I was uncomfortable with. He was respectful of my boundaries but he just couldn’t ah, finish without some very specific bedroom aids, and-” Steve’s face was burning, “- it was a pretty mutual ending because neither of us were getting satisfied.”

“So you don’t think that’ll happen?” Tony asked hopefully.

“I truly doubt it,” Steve said, wishing for the conversation to reach its end. “We already know I can make you come and honestly, that’s the one thing I’m concerned with.” 

Tony’s eyes narrowed. “Not coming yourself?”

“Well that's always nice too,” Steve acknowledged. “Not my main focus though. I’m much more of a giver, I guess.” 

Tony nodded. “I guess that makes sense. But . . . I want to make you feel good too.” 

“You already do,” Steve said simply. 

Tony went all quiet and blushy and shoved some food into his mouth. Steve decided to press on. “My last girlfriend was Sharon. We broke up because she turned out to be Peggy’s cousin. It just made everything real awkward.” 

“I can see that,” Tony said, swallowing. “So how much time was there between me and her?”

“A few months,” Steve said. 

“Were you over her when you met me?”

Steve shrugged. “There wasn’t much to get over. We weren’t very serious.” 

Tony nodded, looking thoughtful. “Okay, cool. Thank you.” 

“Do you feel . . . okay about all of that?” Steve asked cautiously. “Not too uh, intimidated?”

“So long as we’re clear that I’ve never dated anyone until you, never done anything with anyone, et cetera.”

“We’re clear,” Steve assured him. “And Tony? Just so  _ you’re _ clear, that doesn’t bother me at all. I’m honored to give you all of your experience.” 

Tony, whose mouth was full of food, choked. 

\----------

Steve had mistakenly thought (hoped) that Tony would end up relaxing far before their set sex date, and be ready early, back when they’d set a date so far off. The few sexperiences Steve and Tony had shared were mostly just one-offs, almost flukes. There was plenty of kissing, a bit of grinding here and there and even one more successful handjob, but nothing even close to more. 

Tony’s birthday was in a month and Steve wasn’t banking on his present to Tony being sexual in the slightest (not that he considered sexual things actual gifts. More like . . . supplements).

Instead, Steve searched far and wide for something that he thought Tony would enjoy doing. Turned out all his efforts were for naught because Rhodey ended up calling to inform him that Mama Rhodes expected them for a Rhodes-style celebration which as far as Steve could tell, was going to involve a lot of food. 

It worked out spectacularly that Tony’s birthday was on a Thursday, as that would give them a nice extended weekend.

\----------

Along with Tony’s birthday and their wedding date drawing nearer came a brief but powerful freakout on Steve’s part. The freakout was:  _ do I tell him I love him yet or is it too early?  _ With a healthy dose of:  _ what if he doesn’t say it back?  _

According to all his friends he was being an idiot. They’d known each other for seven months. Been dating for about six of them. They were motherfucking engaged for fucking sake (Bucky and Sam’s words. Clint and Natasha had said something similar). 

And yet still, Steve couldn’t help but agonize over saying those three little words. 

In the end it turned out he’d worried for nothing, as Tony ended up saying them first. 

“Bye, I love you!” Tony called, on his way out the door. It shut, and Steve was left staring at it, his heart beating abnormally fast, torn over whether to go chase him down and say it back right away, or carry on the day as normal as Tony seemed to have intended. 

By now, Steve knew all of Tony’s  _ things _ . And he knew that Tony had no doubt orchestrated the situation to be purposefully casual, almost designed for Steve to not really notice. But notice, Steve had. 

Steve also knew that Tony would likely spend the rest of his day obsessing and worrying about Steve’s reaction. He wasn’t cruel, so Steve chased Tony down before he could make it to the bus stop. 

“Tony!” 

Tony turned, a bit of panic glinting in his eyes. “Steve!” His voice had a forced casualness to it. “What, did I forget my lunch?” 

“I love you,” Steve said, without preamble. He came close enough to kiss Tony lingeringly, and drew back, one hand on Tony’s cheek. “Just thought I should tell you that.”

“O-oh,” Tony said, looking slightly faint with relief. “Cool. I love you too.” 

“Have a good day,” Steve added, heading back to their front door. “I’ll see you later.”

“Later,” Tony echoed. 

Steve re-entered his house, closed the front door behind him, and leaned against it, a dopey smile gracing his face. 


	9. May

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone say birthday blowjobs? No? Too bad, I did. Happy birth month, Tony!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone is staying safe! Please get some sun, drink some water and I hope this chapter makes your day a little bit better.

May

The Rhodes only lived a city over, but Steve and Tony were still happy to take advantage of the sleeping accommodations Mama Rhodes offered. Especially Tony. 

They got to the Rhode’s house mid-afternoon, and Tony was immediately pulled into a tangle of Mama Rhodes and Jeanette, Rhodey’s little sister.

Tony looked surprised but pleased and flustered when the ladies both kissed him on the cheek. Even Mr. Rhodes clapped Tony on the shoulder to welcome him. 

“Just ‘cause James isn’t home doesn’t mean you can’t come visit!” Roberta Rhodes (“call me Mama”) scolded, and Tony ducked his head, looking chastised. 

“I’ll come by more, I promise.”

“And you too, you’re family now.” Mama Rhodes pulled Steve into a hug too. Damn, she gave really good ones. 

Rhodey got there about a half hour after they did, but Tony seemed perfectly at ease even without his friend there.

Steve found to his surprise that so was he. Sitting on the worn out couch sipping the tea that Mama Rhodes insisted he needed while chattering on about what they were all up to in their lives felt like home. 

When it started getting a bit darker outside, the Rhodes fired up the grill and made homemade cheeseburgers (Tony’s favorite fast-food, apparently. Steve filed that information away). For dessert, there was of course, traditional birthday cake, but also donuts and blueberries, more of Tony’s favorites. 

Finally the laughter and board games started winding down, and Jeanette excused herself with a yawn, “It’s a school night.” 

“Good girl,” Mama Rhodes murmured, as Jeanette gave her parents and brothers a hug goodnight before disappearing inside the house. 

“We should probably all turn in,” Mr. Rhodes suggested. 

Everyone acquiesced, and helped with the clean-up. 

Back in the house, “You and Steve are gonna have to share a room, unless you want to bunk with James,” Mama Rhodes said to Tony apologetically. 

Steve held his breath, waiting to hear Tony’s decision. They’d started sharing a bed more often but . . .

“I’ll just share with Steve.” Tony smiled brightly at his mama and then turned to wink at his fiancé.

“Oh good, I put a box of condoms in the bedside table drawer. Y’all best be making no mess in there.”

Tony went bright red and spluttered quite a bit. “Mama!”

Mama Rhodes just laughed and kissed him on the forehead. “Sweet dreams, boys.” 

Rhodey gave Steve a threatening look and signaled ‘I’m watching you’ before retiring to his own room. 

\----------

Comfortably nestled in bed with a content Tony next to him was the best.

“Do you remember when you tried to take my pants off and I freaked out?” Tony asked into the darkened silence. 

Steve winced, remembering all too clearly. “Yes?”

“Well for some reason the thought of my pants being off isn’t freaking me out right now. So if you want to do something about that . . . “ 

Steve had been wrong. It could apparently get better. 

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Just . . . don’t turn on the lights.” 

Easiest instruction ever, it meant Steve didn’t have to get up. 

“Are you sure?” He asked again, just to well, be sure. 

Suddenly Tony was on top of Steve, kissing him demandingly and grinding down. “I don’t know if you can feel that,” Tony said in between kisses. “But I’m very sure.” 

Steve wasn’t used to Tony being this forward, but hey, he wasn’t complaining one bit. His hands automatically flew up from his sides to grab handfuls of Tony’s ass, and Tony let out a squeak. 

“I’m an ass man,” Steve mumbled, nibbling at Tony’s earlobe. “And I’m not going to apologize.” 

Tony was pawing at the hem of Steve’s shirt, so Steve shifted to allow its removal. 

Once it was off, Tony ran his hands over the planes of Steve’s chest. From what Seve could see of Tony’s face, he looked rather awed. Tony made a similar face every time he saw Steve with his shirt off, and it was rather flattering. 

“Holy fuck, you really do work out.”

“Yep.” Steve used his strength from exactly that to flip them over so that Tony was underneath him. 

Tony let out a noise that sounded vaguely like “meep.”

“Still doing okay?”

“Oh yeah, definitely,” Tony breathed. He put his hand at the back of Steve’s head to bring him down for another kiss. 

“What are we doing?” Steve asked, pulling back after a few feverish seconds of making out. “Grinding? Another handjob, but with me looking at you this time?” 

“That all sounds fine,” Tony said. “But what do you want to do?” 

“If you’d let me, I’d like to suck you off.” 

Against his leg, which was approximately where Tony was grinding up against, he felt a twitch. The same kind of twitch Tony had given when Steve held him still that one time. The one that meant his dick, at least, was very interested. “If I’d _ let _ you?”

“You sound a bit disgusted.”

“Uh yeah, disgusted by how fucking perfect you are,” Tony scoffed. 

“So is that a yes?” 

“It’s a ‘you can definitely try, but I can’t guarantee I won’t freak out’.” 

“Sounds good to me,” Steve said. “Just say so if you need me to stop. Or kick me. Pull my hair. Anything.” 

“Will do.” 

Without much fanfare, Steve drew back and slipped his fingers around Tony’s waistband, pulling the sweatpants down. Then he froze, waiting to see if Tony was still on board. 

“Why’d you pause?” Tony craned his neck down. “You can keep going.”

“Good, good.” Steve blew out a breath, suddenly the nervous one himself. It had been a while since he’d given head. He used to be really good at it though . . .

Moment of hesitation over, Steve sank his mouth down onto Tony, taking all of him in one go. He was still quite proficient if Tony’s reaction was anything to go by. 

Tony let out a magnificent gasp, his entire body seizing. A litany of curses fell from his gaping mouth. “ _ Steve, holy- shit, fucking- _ ” and then a strangled noise.

Steve lifted off with a popping noise and grinned up at his fiancé. “Shh,” he cautioned. “We don’t want Rhodey hearing and coming to murder me.”

Tony stared down at him in horror. “Please never mention my best friend while sucking me off ever again.”

“Oops, sorry.” Steve bent back down, determined to rectify his mistake by making Tony forget about it, and come. 

Tony’s hips were bucking furiously, and it was distracting- so Steve simply forced them to still, pinning Tony’s lower body down to the mattress. At this point he was quite familiar with the way that Tony loved to be manhandled. 

Sure enough, Tony let out a drawn-out moan as he found himself unable to move, helpless and completely at the mercy of Steve’s mouth. 

\----------

Tony was giggling.

“What’s so funny?” Steve asked, trying hard not to sound affronted.

“I just- I feel like I just had sex in my parent’s house. Shit, I sort of did.” The giggles increased and Tony attempted to smother the noise in a pillow. 

Steve supposed he couldn’t blame Tony for his loopy post-orgasmic daze. Perhaps he even ought to take it as a compliment. 

“I think they’ll forgive us. Mama Rhodes did leave us condoms, after all.” 

“Yeah.” Tony’s giggled finally petered out and he climbed on top of Steve to kiss him. “Thank you.” 

“It was my pleasure,” Steve said, trying not to emphasise any of the words too hard. “Happy birthday, Tony.”

\----------

Between far too many meetings and wedding preparations, Seve had barely any time at all to spend with Tony following his birthday. Not to mention that scandal had rocked the company he was supposed to be merging with, since terrorists in the Middle East had somehow gotten ahold of SI weapons and apparently no one knew how. There was a suspected leak in the military and Steve really didn’t need that to deal with on top of everything else.

So it was a very welcome distraction when there was a knock at Steve’s office door and-

“I want you to teach me how to give a blowjob.” Tony burst in, blushing profusely, studiously not looking Steve in the face.

Steve really really hoped he hadn’t heard wrong, but just to be sure, he asked, “What?”

“Well I’d like to give you one.”

“A blowjob,” Steve said. For clarification.

“That’s what I said.” 

“What brought this on?” Steve asked. He just wanted to make sure Tony wasn’t feeling pressure to reciprocate. 

Tony’s face scrunched up. “Well I mean I was going to learn at some point, right? Why not now?” 

“Right now?” Steve looked at the clock. Oh. He’d worked the day away. It was almost seven. 

“Well you can eat dinner first . . .”

Seeing as this was more than he’d ever hoped for, Steve shut his laptop without further hesitation and put down his pen. “Let’s do it. You feeling leftovers?” That would be the quickest.

“I’m feeling like I’ve eaten already but you should definitely eat too.” 

“Oh.” Steve allowed himself a moment of regret that he hadn’t been able to eat a meal with his fiancé for over a week, before following Tony to the kitchen and being watched while he ate. 

It didn’t exactly help that Tony tapped his fingers impatiently on the table the whole time. 

“Alright.” Once Steve had finished up and put his dish in the sink (he could wash it later) they started heading towards Steve’s bedroom, where the majority of their sexcapades (and lots of cuddling) happened. “So. Uh. Still sure you want to do this?”

“Yes.” Tony swallowed hard. “Should- should you, like, wear a condom?”

“I can wear one,” Steve said. “If you want me to. But I’m clean. It really comes down to if you’d rather taste semen or latex, because I don’t have any flavored ones right now. We can get some later, if you’d like, or I can even go get some right now-”

“Can I . . . start out with no condom and then decide whether I hate the taste?”

“Of course.” 

“Okay great. Awesome.” Tony blew out a shaky breath. “You know, I still haven’t ever seen your penis. I mean, I’ve caught a glimpse here and there but-”

“Well we can rectify that,” Steve said. “Stare away, sweetheart.” He reached down towards his belt buckle. 

“Wait!” Tony said. Steve immediately went still. “Can I do it?”

Steve’s mind may or may not have whited out for a second. “Yep.”

Tony snorted. “‘Yep’? Did you really just say ‘yep’?” His shoulders went down, and so did he, sinking to his knees in front of Steve. “Glad to see I'm not the only one affected by this.” 

The sight of Tony on his knees in front of Steve’s crotch painted a picture pretty enough for him to respond with something really intelligent, like, “hmmnnngg.” 

Tony undid his belt with astonishingly steady fingers, swallowed hard, and slid it all down. Then he stared. “Yep,” he said hoarsely. “That’s a dick.” He looked up at Steve. “So. Uh.” 

Right! Steve needed to sort of talk him through it. He quickly tried to scrounge up every bit of beginner blowjob trivia he knew. It wasn’t an easy task, as he was having trouble forming clear thoughts. “Well first, if you’re going to be on your knees, do you want a pillow?”

“That would be nice,” Tony decided. “They already hurt.” 

Steve yanked Tony to his feet. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“I just did,” Tony retorted.

“Alright, come on.”

Steve backed up to his bed, so he’d have something to brace himself against, stepping out of his pants as he did so, and handed his fiancé a pillow. “Here you go.”

Tony carefully placed it in between them on the floor and sank gracefully back down. He stared at Steve’s cock some more. “Should I just go for it?”

“Ah, no. Gimme a sec.” Steve tried once again to gather his thoughts. “Right so . . . things to remember. Don’t try to take too much, if you can’t breathe or you feel weird, it’s too much. Let me know if you want that condom? Oh, and watch your teeth, that’s an important one.”

“Well I know  _ that _ ,” Tony snorted. 

“And!” Steve said. “If you don’t want to or can’t swallow that’s fine. I’ll warn you and you can pull off.” 

“Okie dokie.” 

That was one of Tony’s nervous phrases, Steve knew. “Do you maybe want to use your hands a little first?” 

“Right, that makes sense.” Tony reached out tentatively, curling his hand lightly around Steve. “Is that too tight?” 

“I can barely feel that,” Steve said honestly. “Here.” He put his own hand around Tony’s squeezing it tighter until it was at his preferred pressure. “There, that’s perfect.” 

Tony stroked him a couple of times, his eyes wide. “You’re so big.”

Steve opened his mouth to respond, but then Tony bent his head forward and took Steve’s cock into his mouth and he entirely lost his train of thought, simply leaving his mouth hanging open. “ _ Haaarngb! _ ”

Tony pulled away and looked up worriedly. “Okay?” 

“Yes yes, completely so much better than okay,” Steve hastened to assure him. Tony went back to work and Steve let a litany of praises and moans fall from his lips, interspersed with concerns about whether or not Tony wanted to switch to using a condom. 

Tony ignored those, carefully licking and sucking his way around, using one hand to stabilize and stimulate Steve’s cock, and the other to hold on to Steve’s thigh for balance. 

Then Tony did this thing, where he simultaneously fondled Steve’s balls and peered upwards beneath a thick fringe of gorgeous lashes, and Steve was lost. 

“Tony- sweetheart-”

Tony just gave him a thumbs up in acknowledgment and kept on going, hollowing his cheeks for a good measure.

Steve tried to hold out, he really did, but there was only so much stimulation and heated gaze he could take before-

Tony jerked back as Steve spilled over, his face and chest taking a coating of come. “Jesus fucking Christ!” 

“Sorry!” Steve gasped out, slumping back against the bed.

“No that’s on me, you gave a warning.” Tony swiped at the fluid on his face. “I just didn’t realize it would uh, come out that fast.” 

“Sorry,” Steve said again anyways. Remembering that Tony thrived on praise, he scrambled for a compliment. “Are you sure that was your first time giving head? No practicing on vegetables or anything?”

Sure enough, Tony preened. “It was good?” 

“Most definitely,” Steve said truthfully. “What about for you?” 

“I liked it,” Tony said. “I mean the taste is . . . meh, but better than latex. Also, didn’t want to freak you out, but I was pretty worried I’d accidentally bite you.” 

“We can try different flavoured condoms,” Steve promised, deciding to overlook the biting comment. “I mean . . . if this is something you’d like to do again.” 

“I’m definitely open to it,” Tony said. “You were right, by the way.”

“Oh? What about?”

“Making someone come really is sexy.” 

Steve sank back against the bed, and wiped Tony’s mouth off with his fingers. He’d missed a bit. “I’m glad you think so.” 


	10. June

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bum bum ba dum, Steve and Tony finally walk down the aisle!

June

Traditionally, the er. . . groom and groom weren’t supposed to see each other 24 hours before the wedding and apparently Steve’s ma had decided they wanted a traditional wedding. 

He decided to trust her on that, since Tony seemed pretty happy with it and Steve- well, Steve was nothing if not traditional, funny as it seemed. 

So two nights before their wedding, Steve made sure he and Tony sat down to discuss married life. 

“There might be changes,” he said. “Once it’s legal. But we shouldn’t make any changes you’re going to be uncomfortable with.” 

“I don’t want you to expect sex from me,” Tony blurted out immediately. 

Okay, so it looked like Steve was on the right track. There  _ had _ been stuff Tony was worrying about. 

“That was never going to happen,” Steve said. “Married or not, sex should only ever happen when both people want it.”

“Ah, good.” Tony closed his mouth, opened it again, closed it.

Steve waited patiently. 

“Also no offense but I probably won’t want to share a bed with you every night.” 

For some reason Steve did find himself slightly offended by that, but he pushed it down. That was perfectly reasonable. None of his friends always slept in the same bed every night. Of course none of them lived together and none were married to their partner(s) but still. Boundaries. 

“I’m just really used to sleeping alone,” Tony continued, heedless of Steve’s internal monologue. “And I mean- I’m not saying we’re going to fight a lot, but if we ever do, I’d like my own space to be in.”

“That’s totally reasonable,” Steve said. “You’re of course, welcome to call my room our room, and you’ll always be welcome.”

“Thank you.”

Steve wanted very badly to tell Tony to keep his thanks. This was common decency. Steve didn’t need to be thanked. But stating so would probably just open a whole new can of worms. He swallowed down his protests. “Of course. Anything else?” 

Tony’s brow furrowed, and then smoothed out. “Not that I can think of.” 

“Alright. You’ll let me know if you need to talk about anything, right? We can always discuss things if you feel uncomfortable.”

Tony smiled. “I know. Thank you.” 

There was a beat of silence, then-

“Do  _ you _ have any concerns?” Tony asked. 

Steve couldn’t hide his surprise at being asked. He was . . . touched. 

“Uh. No. I just wanted to make sure you were good with everything.”

“Thank you.” Tony gazed at him for a moment. “I’m really glad that we’re getting married.”

Steve could feel his face break out in a relieved smile. “Me too.” 

\----------

Steve’s breath caught as Tony walked down the aisle towards him. He looked . . . radiant. That was a word one would usually use for a bride, but Tony as a groom outshone all of them. 

Since both Steve and Tony didn’t have fathers present, Steve had been walked down the aisle by his ma, and Tony by Maria. Obie had offered but Tony had politely turned him down. Steve had less politely turned him down as well, on Tony’s behalf. 

Reverend John cleared his throat to begin the ceremony. 

“Do you, Steven Grant Rogers, take this man, Anthony Edward Stark, to have and to hold, promise to be true to him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, and love and honor him all the days of your life?”

Steve cleared his throat nervously, even though there was nothing to be nervous about. Nothing at all. “I do.” 

“And do you, Anthony Edward Stark, take Steven Grant Rogers to have and to hold, promise to be true to him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, and love and honor him all the days of your life?”

“I- I do,” Tony said. He smiled at Steve, as if to let him know that it was all okay. 

“With the power invested in me by The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit, and the State of New York, I pronounce you a married couple. You may now share a kiss.” 

Steve smiled and inclined his head to press a soft kiss to Tony’s lips. Tony’s return kiss was much more forceful, like he wanted everyone to know that Steve was  _ his _ now. 

\-----------

The reception passed in a blur for Steve, and by the dazed expression on his face, for Tony too. Steve was glad, because it meant he didn’t have to focus too hard on the well-wishers, or his Ma and Maria’s hovering. The only clear thing in the entire wedding hall was his husband’s face. Their friends kept a respectful distance, but just close enough to help. Their toasts were light-hearted yet meaningful. Not that Steve paid much attention. He knew there’d be a video for him to view later.

Him and Tony ate almost mechanically, although later they would recall that the caterer Maria and Sarah had hired was quite good. 

Somehow they found themselves standing in front of the chosen hotel for their wedding night. Just. Looking at each other. 

“So . . . we’re married,” Steve said. 

“Finally,” Tony muttered. 

“And now it’s our honeymoon,” Steve said. “What do you say, sweetheart? Can I take you to bed?” Tony had left all the honeymoon preparations up to Steve, and hadn’t wanted to be told anything about it. Steve hoped he’d be sufficiently wowed. 

Tony reached out and wrapped his arms around Steve’s neck—a major stride from when they’d begun their relationship, Steve thought—and his legs wrapped themselves around too, when Steve hoisted him up by the ass. “Go for it, sugarplum.” 

Steve already started hardening at the thought of being with Tony  _ all the way _ \-- being inside him, seeing all of him in every throe of passion. “That’s what I like to hear.”

He carried Tony all the way up to their honeymoon suite, hesitated at the threshold. 

The bedspread of the canopied king was scarlet satin. Yes, Steve was a hopeless die-hard romantic. “I was going to get us champagne,” Steve said. “But-”

“-I’m underage,” Tony finished. He started giggling “Nineteen and married, look at me.” 

Steve kissed Tony through the laughter, and took that final step into the room, where they would be consummating their marriage. 

Every nerve in his body hummed at the thought.

Steve carefully set Tony on his feet. “Ready to do this?” 

Tony blew out a breath. He looked anxious but also excited. Better than Steve had been expecting. “I sincerely hope so.” He looked around. “First, bathroom.” 

“Over there,” Steve said, pointing. “See you in a few.”

Tony nodded making a face, and headed towards the door, off to go take care of some of the er, less sexy aspects of sex. 

\----------

Tony stepped out of the bathroom in a scarlet satin bathrobe. He looked effervescent.

Steve started out slow, the way he always did, carefully coaxing Tony towards the bed. Tony didn’t seem to need much persuasion. He pulled Steve down on top of him.

They started out with a lot of kissing, caressing, and groping, exactly as they had been doing up until now. Steve was down his shirt and pants before he untied Tony’s robes with fumbling fingers and slid it off his shoulders. 

His hand trailed down Tony’s bare torso, across his hip, and then . . . Steve’s hand stilled. He looked down at where he’d encountered the soft flesh. Despite his seeming enthusiasm, Tony was still soft. 

“You’re not getting hard,” Steve said, and then he winced at how rude that sounded. Everything abruptly pulled to a stop. 

“It’s alright,” Tony said, looking embarrassed. “You can keep going, I’m sure my body’ll catch up eventually-”

“No,” Steve said firmly. Tony tensed up, so Steve followed the rebuke with a kiss to soften it. “Honey, your body is trying to tell you—us—that you’re feeling a lot of pressure and stress. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“But- it’s our wedding night,” Tony protested feebly. “We said-”

“And the fact that you told me to go ahead means you are willing to have sex with me. At least your mind is, and that’s wonderful. But right now your body isn’t and that’s fine.” Steve smiled. “Men don’t actually die from lack of sex, you know.” 

“Obviously I know that,” Tony muttered petulantly. “I  _ am _ a man.” But he seemed to be coming back from inside his own head, relaxing against Steve now that sex was no longer a concern. “Feels like I might die though,” he grumbled. 

Steve chuckled. “I’ll make sure you don’t.”

“So what now?”

“Well I’m happy just to hold you all night long, sweetheart,” Steve said simply, delighting in the way that still made Tony flush. 

Tony made to leave the bed. 

“Where are you going?” Steve asked.

“To get some clothes on?”

“You don’t have to,” Steve said. “Seems a waste to be married and not put all that skin to use. Here.” Steve shucked his last article of clothing, his tighty-whities, and dragged Tony across the bed and into his arms. “I hear naked cuddling builds trust and intimacy between partners.” 

As usual, Tony couldn’t help but be swayed by a science fact. 

“If that means my subconsious will be cooler with fucking sooner, then I’m down.”

\----------

Steve awoke first, as usual, and was content to simply gaze upon his naked fianc- husband. The thought made him smile. Eventually the clock crept closer and closer to noon, and Steve figured he should order room service so that there’d be food ready when Tony woke up. 

Tony’s eyes fluttered open with the soft tap on the door. Steve smiled down at him and slipped on the discarded robe from the night before to go get the food. 

“G’morning, beautiful,” Steve said, hoping that he made a pleasing picture bearing a fully laden tray of food. 

“Sunshine,” Tony returned, smiling. “That looks really good.”

“Heck yeah it does,” Steve said with feeling. He set the tray down at the foot of the bed.

“But you look even better.” 

Steve felt the corner of his mouth twitch upwards. “Well we can definitely revisit that . . . after we eat.” 

“Well I do like food,” Tony said reluctantly. “Alright. Let me go wake up a bit.” And he slid out of bed to go to the bathroom. Steve just sat back and admired the view. 

Maybe he should have been expecting it, but it came as a bit of a surprise when after finishing breakfast, Tony launched himself across the bed and landed on Steve. The mostly empty food tray was knocked to the ground, spilling the remnants of their meal across the carpet. 

“Tony!” Steve protested.

“We can clean that up later,” Tony said dismissively. “Besides, that’s what room service is for. We’ll leave a nice tip.” Then he bent his head to give Steve a searing kiss. 

Steve surged up to meet him, and quickly rolled them over so he was on top. “You good?” He gasped out between heated kisses.

“Absolutely,” Tony said, and rolled his hips upwards so that Steve could feel his hardness, proving his point. 

“Okay okay, hang on, pause,” Steve said, pinning Tony’s wrists down, smirking at his gaspy reaction. “I have a lot of different condoms and lubes here. Before we go any further, would you like to take a look?” 

Tony quirked an eyebrow. “Too many to use  _ all _ of them before our honeymoon is over?” 

Steve considered. “Well if we don’t leave our hotel room at all . . .”

“We’re going to spend most of the rest of our lives outside of hotel rooms,” Tony said. “I say we make the best of this one. You can have first pick.” 

Steve was tempted to argue that as it was Tony’s first time, Tony should get the first pick, but he also knew that Tony hated making decisions. So he let go of his husband's wrists and picked out a simple cooling lube that boasted to ease the possible pain of penetration, and a lubricated purple condom. Fun colors made everything less intimidating. 

Placing the condom to the side, Steve returned to kissing Tony deeply, flicking open the lube cap with one hand. He ran his other hand down Tony’s thighs, and Tony parted his legs eagerly to allow him access. 

Miraculously, the stroke of Steve’s finger against Tony’s cleft didn’t bring everything to a screeching halt. 

“Alright?” Steve asked, before kissing the corner of Tony’s mouth. 

“Fine,” Tony replied, grabbing Steve’s hand himself and teasing his hole with Steve’s fingers a little more firmly. 

“Hang on, hang on, lube,” Steve said, and he drizzled some over his fingers. “It’s cooling,” he warned, before lightly stroking over the puckered entrance, pressing ever so lightly inwards. 

Tony jerked, but more in surprise than anything else, his hands flying up to grasp Steve’s arms. “That is pretty cold.” He gasped as Steve’s finger breached. “Okay, that’s not what I was expecting.” 

“Okay though?”

“Oh yeah no, that feels- that feels really good.” 

“Good.” So Steve kept going. He enjoyed the way Tony gasped with each shift of his fingers. Slowly, slowly, Tony loosened up around him and became as slick as Steve needed him to be . . . to take the next step. 

It took only a few strokes on Steve’s part to arise to full hardness. He stared down at Tony who was on his back, knees raised to his chest, his eyes shining with anticipation. Steve leaned down for a kiss as he slid home.

\----------

“I was right,” Tony said triumphantly, his body lax, his face just turned out of his pillow. 

“You usually are,” Steve agreed. “But what about?” 

“Anal sex is  _ totally  _ my thing.” 

“I did sort of get that impression.” 

Tony gave a snorty sort of laugh. “I’ve never come so hard in my life.” 

Well that was quite the compliment. Steve’s ego felt good and stroked. Just like their dicks.

Tony giggled and Steve realized he’d just said that out loud. Maybe Tony’s sense of humor was catching. 

“Morning is a good time for us,” Steve said. 

“Hm?”

“We’ve had most of out successful sex in the morning.”

“You’re right,” Tony said, sounding surprised. “Huh.” 

Steve couldn’t help feeling thankful that they’d anded up finally having sex. All those fancy lubes had cost a  _ lot _ , and he’d have hated for them to go to waste. 

“It shouldn’t only be mornings that are good for sex, though,” Tony said, continuing the conversation. “We could, I don’t know, make it an all day thing?” 

Even though it would probably be a minute or so before Steve could get it fully back up, he rolled on top of Tony to give him an intensely satisfying kiss. “Have I mentioned that you have the best ideas?” 

\----------

The afteglow of sex and honeymoon daze of freshly married could only last so long, as it turned out.

As soon as the companies merged, everything went to shit. 

Obadiah wasn’t making good on his agreement with Steve, which, as Tony pointed out, was bad news for Obadiah once Tony turned 21. But that was a long way off.

Steve didn’t understand. On paper, him and Stane were co-owners. And then there was that verbal agreement they’d made, concerning his marriage to Tony, which as far as he knew, didn’t have any other conditions. 

So what if Obadiah Stane seemed to want Tony miserable, and Steve made him happy? Tony was working for SI now, in R&D as Steve had promised. With Tony more involved in the company, married to the co-owner and poised to take over in just a few years, Obadiah’s alienation simply seemed incredibly stupid. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be honest. I fully meant to write out Tony's first time and then, this is ridiculous, but the moment felt too private somehow so I didn't. Hope you all enjoyed anyways! Stay safe and healthy everyone.


	11. July

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand everything comes to a head, things are revealed about Obadiah Stane and SI, and Tony and Steve live happily ever after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I'd just like to thank everyone who's stuck with me and commented and left kudos. Y'all the real MVPs. I hope you'll find this ending satisfying!

July

It wasn’t until a month later that everything became clear. “There’s no leak in the military,” Tony said urgently. 

Steve shook his head, not in denial, but to clear it. “What do you mean?”

“Tell him.” Tony looked at the woman who was with him. Virginia?

“I overheard things that I wasn’t supposed to,” she said in a hushed voice. “I wasn’t sure who to come to with the information.”

“Obadiah’s been trying to lock me out of a lot of the business proceedings,” Steve said, just as quietly. “Does this have something to do with it?” 

She nodded. “He’s the one making deals in the Middle East. He’s dealing under the table.”

\----------

The media had been informed. Stane’s career was ending. It was over for him. In the midst of all the chaos, Steve, being Steve, ended up confronting Stane directly. Tony came as backup. 

“You wanted us to get married,” Steve accused. “Why?”

Obadiah mopped his sweating brow. “I heard that the public wasn’t supportive of our merge. A marriage alliance would take care of that.”

“Liar,” Tony said. “You’ve surprised me, uncle Obie. You’re a lot of bad things, but you’ve never been a liar.”

“I’m not lying!”

“Fine,” Steve said, coming closer. “But that wasn’t the only reason. Tell us why.”

Stane’s eyes flitted back and forth between Steve and Tony. “I thought you’d control him,” He said. 

This drew Steve up short. “What?”

“He thought you’d be old fashioned,” Tony said, clearly understanding something that Steve didn’t. “It never occurred to him that you’d treat me like an equal. Or give me power if I asked.”

“I- what? I’m bi!” Steve said, in utter confusion. “I’m married to a  _ man _ . You thought  _ I  _ would be old-fashioned? Where’d you even get that?”

“My sources told me you were traditional!” Stane blustered. 

“Yeah, so I go to church!” Steve said. “Haven’t you heard? The pope is pretty progressive these days.” 

“Where did you hear these things from?” Tony broke in. 

There was a sudden clip-clop of what was unmistakably heels on tile. All three of them turned towards the noise source.

“That would be me.” The woman spoke in familiar clipped british tones.

Steve felt his heart slip down to his stomach. “Peggy?” He choked out. 

“Peggy?” Tony tilted his sunglasses down to get a better look. “Your Peggy? Lost your virginity to, not realizing she was like 12 years older than you, Peggy?”

Both Steve and Peggy made strangled noises of dissent, even though yes, that was exactly what had happened. 

“That’s not what’s important here!” Steve said quickly, feeling his face burning. How had he not known that Peggy worked for the company he’d had a merger with? Maybe due to avoiding anything with her name on. Ah, well. That was his bad. 

“Yes,” Obadiah said, a shrewd calculating look in his eyes. “I want to know why you’d feed me false information, Miss Carter.” 

“Because you have been taking the company in the wrong direction,” Peggy fired off. “You’ve been dealing under the table with terrorist organizations. I’ve finally got proof now. It’s no longer just media speculation. You’re going away for a long long time, Mr. Stane.” 

Obadiah paled. 

“But why convince him to try and get rid of me?” Tony broke in. 

“That was pure luck that it worked,” Peggy said. “And it had nothing to do with anything company based. I was simply trying to protect you from him. I suppose you don’t remember me, but I saw how he treated you. Letting him think he got you out of the way was best.” Peggy’s nostrils flared. “Otherwise he’d probably have arranged an “accident” to keep you from inheriting the company once you turned twenty one.” 

“I’ll expose you!” Obadiah said desperately. “I’ll say that you raped him!” he pointed at Steve.

“Except that she didn’t,” Steve said, staring him down. “I was seventeen. I consented. No jury would find her guilty. The most you’ll do is cause a scandal, which I think is the least of the company's worries right now.” 

\----------

Obadiah Stane was dragged off in handcuffs, and Stark Industries relinquished to Steve, who was still co-owner in name, and now the only owner. 

\----------

“It turned out Peggy’s been working for SI for a long-ass time,” Tony told Steve. “I was too young to remember, but she was Howard’s personal assistant for over two years, all the way up until he died. She was even friend’s with my mom, before my mom went kinda nutso and stopped like, caring and stuff.”

“Wow,” Steve said. He couldn’t formulate whole sentences yet. He was still stunned. 

“Steve.” Tony looked into his eyes. “This is going to be a good thing, I promise.”

“Yeah.”

“Really.” Tony looked heartbreakingly earnest. “We don’t need to worry about Obadiah, or the companies, or the merger, or money, or-”

“You married me,” Steve interrupted. “Because of him. And the companies. And everything else. Your whole life-”

“I didn’t marry you because of him. I married you because of you. And I don’t regret it.” Tony held Steve blue eyes with his own amber ones. “Do you?” 

\----------

Epilogue

Tony was turning 21 in a week. Stark Industries would be his in a week. He did not want to own the company. 

“Steve,” Tony said. “Steve, I don’t want to own Stark Industries.” 

His husband turned over to look at him, a sleepy confused look on his face. “Why not?” 

“You already own it!” Tony burst out. “No offense but I’m not sure our relationship will survive us being co-owners.” 

Tony was happy in the R&D department. He did not want the responsibility of being a co-owner. 

“Tony,” Steve said. “You technically already own half of SI. You’re married to me.”

“Hold up.” Tony reached up to scrub at his eyes. “Are you saying nothing’s going to change?”

“Not if you don’t want it to.” Steve peered at his husband blearily. “I asked you if you wanted a say in what happens, you said no except for insisting I make Pepper CEO one day, remember?”

Come to think of it, that did sound vaguely familiar. “So I can just stay where I am?”

“Yep.” 

With Steve’s confirmation, Tony relaxed, his eyes closing. “Oh okay, cool. You can go back to sleep now.” 

“Nuh uh.” Steve rolled over, trapping Tony underneath him. “You woke me up. Make it worth my while.” 

“So needy,” Tony murmured, but he grinned and pressed a kiss to the tip of Steve’s nose. “Alright. But first we have to brush our teeth.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to come check out my Tumblr!


End file.
